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The Executive Council of the International Advisory Board

Mr Mitsumasa Aoyama
Director, The Yufuku Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

Professor June Henton
Dean, College of Human Sciences, Auburn University,
USA

Lord Charles Bruce
Lord Lieutenant of Fife
Chairman of the Patrons of the National Galleries of
Scotland
Trustee of the Historic Scotland Foundation, UK

Professor Michael Hudson
President of The Institute for the Study of Long-Term
Economic Trends (ISLET)Distinguished Research Professor of Economics, The
University of Missouri, Kansas City

Professor Donald E. Hall
Herbert J. and Ann L. Siegel Dean
Lehigh University, USA
Former Jackson Distinguished Professor of English
and Chair of the Department of English

Professor Koichi Iwabuchi
Professor of Media and Cultural Studies & Director of
the Monash Asia Institute, Monash University, Australia

Professor Arthur Stockwin
Founding Director of the Nissan Institute forJapanese Studies & Emeritus Professor
The University of Oxford UK
Professor Chung-Ying Cheng
Professor of Philosophy, University of Hawai’i atManoa, USA
Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Chinese Philosophy
Professor Steve Cornwell
Professor of English and Interdisciplinary Studies,
Osaka Jogakuin University, Osaka, Japan
Osaka Local Conference Chair
Professor A. Robert Lee
Former Professor of English at Nihon University,
Tokyo from 1997 to 2011, previously long taught
at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK
Professor Dexter Da Silva
Professor of Educational Psychology, Keisen University,
Tokyo, Japan
Professor Georges Depeyrot
Professor and Director of Research & Member of theBoard of Trustees
French National Center for Scientific Research(CNRS) & L’Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France
Professor Johannes Moenius
William R. and S. Sue Johnson Endowed Chair of
Spatial Economic Analysis and Regional Planning
The University of Redlands School of Business, USA

Professor Sue Jackson
Professor of Lifelong Learning and Gender & Pro-Vice
Master of Teaching and Learning, Birkbeck, Universityof London, UK
Professor Sir Geoffrey Lloyd
Senior Scholar in Residence, The Needham ResearchInstitute, Cambridge, UK
Fellow and Former Master, Darwin College, Universityof Cambridge
Fellow of the British Academy
Professor Keith Miller
Orthwein Endowed Professor for Lifelong Learning in
the Science, University of Missouri-St.Louis, USA
Professor Kuniko Miyanaga
Director, Human Potential Institute, Japan
Fellow, Reischauer Institute, Harvard University, USA
Professor Dennis McInerney
Chair Professor of Educational Psychology and CoDirector of the Assessment Research Centre
The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong
SAR
Professor Brian Daizen Victoria
Professor of English
Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies
Professor Michiko Nakano
Professor of English & Director of the Distance
Learning Center, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Professor Thomas Brian MooneyProfessor of Philosophy
Head of School of Creative Arts and Humanities
Professor of Philosophy and Head of School of
Creative Arts and Humanities, Charles Darwin
University, Australia

Professor Baden Offord
Professor of Cultural Studies and Human Rights & CoDirector of the Centre for Peace and Social JusticeSouthern Cross University, Australia
Professor Frank S. Ravitch
Professor of Law & Walter H. Stowers Chair in Law
and Religion, Michigan State University College of Law
Professor Richard RothSenior Associate Dean, Medill School of Journalism,
Northwestern University, Qatar
Professor Monty P. Satiadarma
Clinical Psychologist and Lecturer in Psychology &Former Dean of the Department of Psychology and
Rector of the University, Tarumanugara University,
Indonesia
Mr Mohamed Salaheen
Director, The United Nations World Food Programme,Japan & Korea
Mr Lowell Sheppard
Asia Pacific Director, HOPE International
Development Agency, Canada/Japan
His Excellency Dr Drago Stambuk
Croatian Ambassador to Brazil, Brazil
Professor Mary Stuart
Vice-Chancellor, The University of Lincoln, UK
Professor Gary Swanson
Distinguished Journalist-in-Residence & Mildred S.
Hansen Endowed Chair, The University of Northern
Colorado, USA
Professor Jiro Takai
Secretary General of the Asian Association for Social
Psychology & Professor of Social Psychology
Graduate School of Education and Human
Development, Nagoya University, Japan
Professor Svetlana Ter Minasova
President of the Faculty of Foreign Languages andArea Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Professor Yozo Yokota
Director of the Center for Human Rights Affairs, Japan
Former UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar
Professor Kensaku Yoshida
Professor of English & Director of the Center for the
Teaching of Foreign Languages in General Education,
Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan

The Barcelona Conference on Education 2020
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Table of Contents
Moral TechEducation:
The Role of Imagination to Humanize Technological Societies
Fabrizia Abbate

pp. 1 - 10

Homework Worksheets Designed to Promote Learner Autonomy
Ya-Chiu Hsieh
Lin Tsai

pp. 11 - 24

Museum as Meditative Environment
Elena Polyudova

pp. 25 - 32

Hybrid Learning Higher Education: The Co-Creation of Value in theStudent’s View
Waldine Fialho
Ramon Leite
Sofia Gaio

pp. 33 - 44

An Evaluation Model for a Non-Sexist Education: Beyond Performance
Accountability
Andrea Parra
Nicole Vallejos

pp. 45 - 60

Attitude to Authority and Digital Competences of Bulgarian Primary
Teachers
Nadezhda Kaloyanova

pp. 61 - 78

Research of Primary School Students’ Knowledge and Attitude to Internet
Tolerance
Rumyana Papancheva
Maria Dishkova

pp. 79 - 91

How Can Educators Make Online Work Well?
Communicating Through Graphic Design: Relevance, Focus, Reflection
Cavell Ord-Shrimpton

pp. 93 - 105

Behaviours - Silent Conflicts at High Schoolsin Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Nguyen Thi My Diem

pp. 107 - 119

An Innovative Learner-Centric Framework for Sustainability ofTraditional Private Higher Education Institutions post the COVID
Pandemic
Krishnendu Sarkar

pp. 121 - 133

Role of a Subjective Difficulty Rating in Using a System for Practicing
English Speaking
Harumi Kashiwagi
Min Kang
Kazuhiro Ohtsuki

pp. 135 - 145

Organizing a Group of Students in order to Research the Rebound Effectin Industry 4.0
Giani Gradinaru

pp. 147 - 157

An Intersectional Understanding of International Female Doctoral
Students’ Narratives
Sabrina Syed

pp. 159 - 170

Appreciative Inquiry: The Fundamental Questions of AI’s Validity andAppropriateness in Transforming English Education in Japan
Leveth Jackson

pp. 171 - 181

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Moral TechEducation:
The Role of Imagination to Humanize Technological Societies
Fabrizia Abbate, University of Molise, Italy
The Barcelona Conference on Education 2020
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Abstract
The age of advanced technologies (industry 4.0, robots, sophisticated machines able toreplace human workers) has already arrived. We cannot stop to debate on the ethicaldemands for a human sustainability of this technological progress, and for sure we mustask ourselves if education is already providing tools to manage this epochal transition.
Education seems having been too contents-oriented over the last fifty years. Contents
is what really matters and what we must achieve: form is considered a sort of plus,
related to people’s freedom. This slow and inexorable passage to contents centeredinstitutional education, has had a visible consequence: the aesthetical question of theform has turned into the main requisite of a culture based only on consuming. So theargument is still relevant: will education be able to give an aesthetic perception of theself and of the world around? When we talk of aesthetic awareness we mean thatparticular consciousness linked to imagination. This proposal aims to use contemporary
philosophical issues on aesthetic (theories by Herbert Marcuse, Arnold Gehlen, Peter
Sloterdijk) to affirm the role of imagination as a necessary framework for any
technological education.
Keywords: Aesthetics, Marcuse, Education, Ethics, Advanced Technologies

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Introduction
Aesthetics is still important in education today, in a changing world where technocracy
and capitalistic beauty dominate. The philosophy of Aesthetics (perception,
representation, art) keeps imagination alive helping people not be dominated by reality:
would it be able to play a central humanistic role in the age of advanced technologies
as well? And if yes, how could it be? We start reading some pages from Marcuse, which
will be the basis for further analysis and debate.
Reshaping obscenity: a conceptual category in challenging scenarios
A small simple word has been used by Herbert Marcuse to introduce his Essay on
Liberation: obscenity. What does this mean? In the Latin language, obscenum meant
something that is beyond the stage. Theatre has been conducted for centuries. It includes
a main stage for acting, in front of spectators, spaces behind the scenes and off stage
assigned to actors, writers, directors, screenplay writers, staff and technicians and lifearound rehearsals. Therefore, what is called obscenum, born in an aesthetic context ofdrama and performance, could actually be meant as something hidden, unofficial,secretive, not public. However, only the modern meaning of the word obscenum isknown in its present-day usage. It currently means indecent, awful, vile, also
unfortunate and sad. Therefore, an investigation into Marcuse’s use of the word is, isnecessary, because obscenity plays a central role in the development of Marcuse criticaltheory, and in its unique aesthetic theory in particular.
«The category of obscenity will serve as an introduction. This society is obscene inproducing and indecently exposing a stifling abundance of wares while depriving its
victims abroad of the necessities of life; obscene in stuffing itself and its garbage canswhile poisoning and burning the scarce foodstuffs in the field of its aggression; obscene
in the words and smiles of its politicians and entertainers; in its prayers, in its ignorance,
and in the wisdom of its kept intellectuals. Obscenity is a moral concept in the verbal
arsenal of the Establishment, which abuses the term by applying it, not to expressionsof its own morality but to those of another»1.
«This society» of consumerism, we understand, is obscene: the way it produces andimposes goods, the way it is represented by its politicians, intellectuals and entertainers.
It seems we are facing an oxymoron. Society is a common representation of community,societas is the word used in Latin, indicating a particular kind of association, an
inclusive, settled, harmonious being recognized and by all as a part of it. What we would
like to assume is that claiming a society can be obscene, in some way, is like defining
a symphony off key. In so much as it is quite impossible that a musical score is off key
by itself, so it is difficult to think of a society in terms of obscenity, and this is what
Marcuse has in mind. For this reason the inquiry on this concept follows.
«Obscene is not the picture of a naked woman who exposes her public hair but that ofa fully clad general who exposes his medals rewarded in a war of aggression; obscene
is not the ritual of the Hippies but the declaration of a high dignitary of the Church that1

Marcuse, H.(1969), A Biological Foundation for Socialism?, in An Essay on Liberation, Beacon Press,
Boston; e-book ISBN 978-08070-05958. It is my choice to highlight the word «obscene» in cursive.

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war is necessary for peace. Linguistic therapy – that is, the effort to free words (andthereby concepts) from the all but total distortion of their meanings by theEstablishment – demands the transfer of moral standards (and of their validation) fromthe Establishment to the revolt against it. Similarly the sociological and political
vocabulary must be radically re-shaped: it must be stripped of its false neutrality; itmust be methodically and provocatively “moralized” in terms of the Refusal»2.
Marcuse links the idea of obscenity to his sexual theories in Eros and Civilization,
writing that it belongs to the sexual sphere, “shame and the sense of guilt arise in the
Oedipal situation”, so that obscenity is not a materialistic concern, but a psychoanalytic
concern. But the main point here is that obscenity is the Establishment’s concept
assimilated by a specific moral framework: obscenum is something that is behind or off
stage, in a play where the dominant role has been played by the Establishment since thebeginning. What if this category removed from the established framework? In
opposition to the Establishment, we find the great refusal, as Marcuse writes. So whatis the meaning of obscenity in the framework of refusal?
The surprising answer is that the same significance indicates the overturning of
scenarios. If the Establishment is on stage, obviously obscene is what stands on the
ground behind and off, but if we move the Establishment from the stage, it immediately
takes up the space of obscenity.
«The so called consumer economy and the politics of corporate capitalism have createda second nature of man which ties him libidinally and aggressively to the commodity
form. The need for possessing, consuming, handling, and constantly renewing thegadgets, devices, instruments, engines, offered to and imposed upon the people, forusing these wares even at the danger of one’s own destruction, as become a «biological»
need in the sense just defined. The second nature of man thus militates against any
change that would disrupt and perhaps even abolish this dependence of man on a market
even more densely filled with merchandise – abolish his existence as a consumer
consuming himself in buying and selling. The needs generated by this system are thus
eminently stabilizing, conservative needs: the counterrevolution anchored in theinstinctual structure»3.
Form and Reification: The Aesthetic Dimension
A more subtle idea can be read when looked at more closely: Capitalism has generated
a second nature in human beings, a second instinctual life that expresses itself in a
specific biological need for goods. That is obscene, because this second nature has been
artificially created to dominate the primary one and to reduce primary impulses tosilence, and it is able to do all so due to commodity form. This expression should beunderlined because the real counterrevolution and revolt will be revealed only in a
conflict between forms of reality and needs: commodity form and the aesthetic form.
First of all, it is quite understandable that Marcuse is suggesting a deep connection
between form and needs, in the sense that needs are produced by shapes of contents
which force our capabilities of reasoning.
2
3

Marcuse, H., Ibidem.
Ibid. It is my choice to highlight the words «commodity form» in cursive.

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Returning to One Dimensional Man, and remembering what he wrote about«introjected» values and «false» needs. The distance between his analysis of consumer
society and the traditional Marxist theory can be superficially explained by thisspeculative passage pertinent to the relation between workers and the system. Marcuse,contrary to Marx, understood that the workers are entirely integrated within modern
society, in a way that makes current Capitalism absolutely unique. Workers could bevictims of introjected values and false needs, however they work for and to an extent toachieve those needs. Even if a revolution happens under these conditions, and it is quite
uncertain it will, because workers are too busy acquiring goods, the people, having
assimilated artificial consumption-based values, would only reproduce the repressive
structure that had conditioned and subjected them. Marcuse is truly assertive when hestresses this serious, alarming difference, that only if and when people have freed theirminds, can they be affected by any material change; only if they are able to change theirconsciousness (meaning their form of reality, their imagination) will they be capable ofa change in relations. While Marx maintained that only by changing men’s economic
relations could their consciousness be changed4.
This emphasis on consciousness and its power of introjecting values linked to false
needs, is precisely what allows Marcuse to go forward and overcome the Marxist
conceptual acquisitions of reification and objectification. Reification is theobjectification of social relations or of those involved in relations, and implies that
objects are transformed into subjects and subjects are turned into objects, with the resultthat subjects are rendered passive, while objects are rendered as the active, determining
factor. If alienation is the general condition of human estrangement in production
processes, reification is a specific form of alienation.
The importance of the form is again reaffirmed, just as in George Lukacs’ work, where
he treats reification as a problem of capitalist society related to the prevalence of thecommodity form, through a close reading of Marx's chapter on commodity fetishism inCapital. In more recent times philosopher Martha Nussbaum, in her analysis ofobjectification in Sex and Social Justice, interprets reification as an absence ofautonomy, a deprivation of subjectivity awareness:«Absence of true autonomy is absolute crucial to the analysis, as is also instrumentality
and absence of concern for experiences and feelings (although Marx seems to grant thatworkers are still treated with some lingering awareness of their humanity and are notregarded altogether as tools or even animals). Workers are also treated as quite
thoroughly fungible, both with other able-bodied workers at times with machines. They
are not, however, treated as inert: their value to the capitalist producer consists precisely
in their activity»5.
On the other hand, the German philosopher Axel Honneth reformulates this key
western Marxist concept in terms of intersubjective relations of recognition and powerin his recent work Reification. Instead of having an effect of the structural character of4

Marcuse, H.(1964), One Dimensional Man: studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society ,Beacon Press, Boston; see Woods, R. (1989-1990), A critical evaluation of Herbert Marcurse’s An
Essay of Liberation, UC Davis University of California, http://prizedwriting.ucdavis.edu/past/19891990.
5
Nussbaum, M. C.(1999), Objectification, in Sex and Social Justice, Oxford University Press, NY.

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due to pathologies of intersubjectivity based on struggles for recognition6.
In The Aesthetic Dimension, Marcuse’s purpose is to determine the revolutionary
essence of art by writing about a «dimension» in which everything is possible, theretreat «into a world of fiction where existing conditions are changed and overcome
only in the realm of imagination».
When we talk about reality, its social and political standards, we refer to something thatstands in such ways of individuation, “this is how things are” we can easily say,
involuntary approving of the state of things. Following our thread of analysis, reality
has contents which must be managed, but which is the form that instills our actions?
Form is what aims to guide our perceptions and our frame of mind. Well, the aesthetic
dimension is exactly where form nourishes itself: «literature can be called revolutionary
in a meaningful sense only with reference to itself, as content having become form».
We can tentatively define aesthetic form as the result of the transformation of a given
content (actual or historical, personal or social fact) into a self-contained whole: a poem,
play, novel etc. The work is thus “taken out” of the constant process of reality andassumes significance and truth of its own. The aesthetic transformation is achieved
through a reshaping of language, perception, and understanding so that they reveal theessence of reality in its appearance: the repressed potentialities of man and nature.
The work of art thus represents reality while accusing it. The critical form of art, its
contribution to the struggle for liberation, resides in the aesthetic form. A work of art isauthentic or true not by virtue of its content (the “correct” representation of social
conditions), nor by its pure form, but by the content having become form7.
What we call “form” in these pages is actually the representation of contents. Andtalking about representation we come across two important iconic representations ofcontents, that is the “symbol” and the “utopia”. Symbol as an hermeneuticalrepresentation, utopia as an ideological representation.
Utopia must identify political leanings objectively produced in the social course toachieve itself, but must be capable to remake forms, that is the reason why it is so
important to stress the role of creativity and imagination in critical theory. Imagination
is inevitably needed to keep focused on firm goals for the future and to be critical about
contingency, because of its unique ability to grasp objects even if they do not exist hic
at nunc. Imagination, as Aristotle and Kant understood and described, has the ability tocreate new things with material offered by knowledge, and make its own autonomy
from facts. Transcending present conditions, imagination is always a disclosing of the
future. This power of transcending reality is what makes imagination such a precious
instrument to call into question any state of things, to animate a sort of permanent
revolution.
6

Honneth, A. (2012), Reification. A new Look at an Old Idea, Oxford University Press, NY.
Marcuse, H. (1978), The Aesthetic dimension : toward a Critique of Marxist Aesthetics, Beacon Press,
Boston; e-book ISBN 978-08070-15193; see also Marcuse, H. (1999), Kultur und Gesellschaft I,
SurhKamp, Berlin. It is my choice to highlight words in cursive.
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It is convincing that this is the feature able to show better than anything else how criticaltheory is loaded with utopia: critical theory is not so much interested in reforms orinterventions of social engineering but rather it is occupied with an extreme denial ofthings in existence. And that is probably why critical theory has not so much interest insocial sciences, exactly because being sciences they must deal with facts, and only facts.
In this context, the hermeneutical position of the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur about
imagination, ideology and utopia should be drawn to mind. He distinctly understoodand explained that the critique of ideologies in the Frankfurt School was connected toa project of liberation. That connection between a project of liberation and a scientificapproach was directed against the treatment of social reality offered by any positivistic
sociology; the concept of an ideology-critique presupposes a stand taken againstsociology as an empirical science. The empirical science of sociology is itself treatedas «a kind of ideology of the liberal, capitalistic system, as developing a purely
descriptive sociology so as not to put into question its own presuppositions. It seems
that step by step everything becomes ideological».
«We must integrate the concept of ideology as distortion into a framework thatrecognizes the symbolic structure of social life. Unless social life has a symbolic
structure, there is no way to understand how we live, do things, and project these
activities in ideas, no way to understand how reality can become an idea or how reallife can produce illusion; these would all be simply mystical and incomprehensible
events. This symbolic structure can be perverted, precisely by class interests and so on
as Marx has shown, but if there were not a symbolic function already at work in themost primitive kind of action, I could not understand, for my part, how reality can
produce shadows of this kind (…). The distorting function covers only a small surfaceof the social imagination, in just the same way that hallucinations or illusions constituteonly a part of our imaginative activity in general»8.
Ricoeur’s viewpoint is that social imagination is absolutely constitutive of social
reality, and the presupposition is that of a social imagination, of a cultural imagination
operating in both constructive and destructive ways, as both confirmation andcontestation of the present situation. The power of imagination acknowledged by
Ricoeur is the power that Marcuse entrusts to imagination.
And reasoning on utopia, the French philosopher invites us to stop and think upon the
Greek origin of the word and the description offered by Thomas More: a place which
exists in no real place. The field of the possible is open beyond the actual, a field foralternative ways of living.
«May we not say that imagination itself – through its Utopian function – has aconstitutive role in helping us rethink the nature of our social life? Is not Utopia theway in which we radically rethink what is family, what is consumption, what is
authority, what is religion, and so on? Does not the fantasy of an alternative society andits exteriorization “nowhere” work as one of the most formidable contestations of what
is? If I were to compare this structure of Utopia with a theme in the philosophy ofimagination, I would say it is like Husserl’s imaginative variations concerning an
8

Ricoeur, P. (1986), Introduction, in Lectures on Ideology and Utopia, Columbia University Press, NY;e-book ISBN 0-231-06048-3.

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essence. Utopia introduces imaginative variations on the topics of society, power,
government, family, religion. The kind of neutralization that constitutes imagination as
fiction is at work in Utopia»9.
Imagination has a preeminent role in allowing us to rethink possibilities and ways forour actions, and this is what really represents the core of any utopia. A place which
exists in no real place, but a place that can be imagined everywhere.
Turning back to Marcuse, we can easily understand that the political potential of art lies
only in its own aesthetic dimension; its relation to praxis is relentlessly indirect andmediated. Furthermore, the more immediately political the work of art is, the more it
reduces the «power of estrangement and the radical, transcendental goals of change».
Politics has a strong instrument to numb societies into making them lose theirfamiliarity with imagination of differences: when the imperative only focus on contents,
immediately contents generate needs. But when the public reasoning aims to collectcontents together with forms, politics takes a step forward (into a new democracy, or
into a revolution. This is the same for Marcuse). Aesthetic formation is a process thatallows the transvaluation of the norms of the established reality principle, and thisdissociation from actuality does not produce false consciousness or mere illusion, butrather a counter-consciousness, as Marcuse writes, a negation of the realisticconformist mind, in the name of precious binomial aesthetic form/autonomy. The
aesthetic transformation becomes a vehicle for recognition.
«The world intended in art is never and nowhere merely the given world of everyday
reality, but neither is it a world of mere fantasy, illusion, and so on. It contains nothingthat does not also exist in the given reality, the actions, thoughts, feelings, and dreamsof men and women, their potentialities and those of nature. Nevertheless the world of awork of art in “unreal” in the ordinary sense of this word: it is a fictitious reality. But it
is “unreal” not because it is less, but because it is more as well as qualitative “other”
than the established reality. As fictitious world, as illusion (Schein), it contains moretruth than does everyday reality. For the latter is mystified in its institutions andrelationships, which make necessity into choise, and alienation into self-realization.
Only in the “illusory” world do things appear as what they are and what they can be.
By virtue of this truth (which arte alone can express in sensuous representation) theworld is inverted – it is the given reality, the ordinary world which now appears as
untrue, as false, as deceptive reality: The world of art as the appearance of truth, theeveryday reality as untrue, delusion».
The great contribution of art to revolt and struggle for liberation cannot be based andevaluated by the artist’s origins or the ideological horizon of his/her class, neither by
the presence of the oppressed class in his/her work. If art is capable of forward thinking,it is only in accordance with the work itself as a whole, with what it says, with the way
it says it, with cohesion between form and content. Literature is not revolutionary
because it is written for the revolution, or for the working class; it is revolutionary forits social function determined by imagination and universality, the real essential aspectsof liberation.

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Ricoeur, P., Ibidem.

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In Marcuse’s idea, art creates another reality principle which can, in a psychodynamic
sense, allow the subjects to experiment with transgressions that they would not be able
to explore in the given reality they inhabit. It is not a rejection of the reality principle,
but of how the reality principle operates in civil society today.
Education, everyday aesthetics and advanced technologies
Now. Let’s stop and take a step forward. Is education still able to manage aesthetic
forms at their origin? On the contrary, education seems to have been too contentsoriented over the last fifty years. Contents is what we should achieve, contents is whatreally matters: form is something in addition linked to people’s freedom. This slow andinexorable passage to contents centered institutional education, has had a visible
consequence: the aesthetical question of the form has become the main requisite of
consumer culture. So the argument is still relevant: has education been capable to create
an aesthetic awareness so far?
When we talk of aesthetic awareness we mean that particular consciousness linked toimagination, recognition and refusal. And, above all, is education still calling for an
aesthetic perception of the self and of the world around?
The solution can be difficult, but the nature of philosophy is to ask questions. Above
all two grey areas should been illuminated. The first one is represented by the so called
capitalistic “everyday aesthetics”, the second is represented by technocracy andanthropotecniques.
Let’s take a close look at the first grey area, in relation to Gilles Lipovetsky: «Aesthetics
has become an item of mass consumption as well as a democratic way of life». In his
writings he focuses on the artistic aspect of capitalism, explaining that capitalism needs
to make goods attractive, beautiful, fancied. It’s like a new mythology is being sold tous, a new grand narrative (using a word so precious to Lyotard): the narrative of goods.
A new mythology that corresponds to a real transformation taking place in
consumerism. It’s quite known that up until now, the taste for luxury was reserved torich. «It was anathema because it was seen as an immoral act of wasting resources foranyone who was struggling to meet their basic needs. That was the thinking. There wasthis idea that people had to know their place and stay there. Our world is no longer likethat by any means – Lipovetsky says. Today, the working classes know all about brandnames, fashion and luxury thanks to advertising and magazines»10.
Which is the role of education in this multitude of brands? Here is the point for us.
Talking about literary imagination, or aesthetical imagination, we learnt from Marcuse
that reality can be forced and overcome into a kind of universality. Well, we don’t thinkthat the “flattening” of the capitalistic world can be associated to that kind ofuniversality. Commodity form remains completely opposite to aesthetic form.
Education should be used to teach us the difference between those two concepts of
form.

10

Lipovetsky, G., Serroy, J. (2013), L’Esthétisation du Monde. Vivre à l’age du capitalisme artiste,
Gallimard, Paris; On Artistic Capitalism, Interview on Crash Magazine 65, http://www.crash.fr/onartistic-capitalism-by-gilles-lipovetsky-crash-65/

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Let’s move to the second grey area: the age of advanced technologies, Industry 4.0,
robots, sophisticated machines able to replace human workers. We cannot stop to debate
on the ethical demands for a human sustainability of this technological progress, but forsure we must ask ourselves if education is already equipping people to manage thisepochal transition.
Newspapers, magazines, scientific journals are full of articles and theories explaining
how producing things in the new era of work robots will be simple, fast and advanced.
On the other side, many sociologists warn us about how hard looking for a job in the
new age of technology will be.
But, what about the question: are you ready for this big change in reality? We will be
introduced to a new aesthetics of work, exactly as it happened centuries ago with theindustrial revolution. Are we ready to think of ourselves as part of this change? A newperception of beauty, a new perception of order and proportion, a new representation of
objects and state of play: the new age 4.0 seems to request new aesthetics before andwithin new ethics. Is our education ready to teach good advice or does it want to arrive
after robots and after the real transition?
Conclusions
The German philosophical anthropologist Arnold Gehlen believed our real primarynature is hidden by our «second nature» that requires us to create a cultural world. It is
culture that, as a second nature, enables us to construct and mediate norms and values11.
This activity originates in the nature of human beings, in their ontological deficiencies.
Animals have a natural head start on human beings, have inherent instincts enablingthem to react with absolute certainty to various situations and have been equipped witha natural protection, while human beings are imperfect and in order to survive they arecompelled to create conditions for their own existence. In this way culture comes into
being.
In more recent times, Peter Sloterdijk, for example, suggests us to work intensively on
looking for an original interconnection between aesthetics of life, medical art andpolitics: if we want to survive keeping our human condition in the next age, we should
learn a new art called the art of living.
If we believe in an affirmative answer, then we should consequently talk in terms of areaffirmed human flourishing: will education be ready to still play a big part in between
humanism and technocracy? We are convinced that Marcuse’s idea of the aesthetic
dimension is still a valuable tool for rethinking education not in support of repressive
obscene societies, but in support of human deliberation.

11

Gehlen, A. (1988), Man, His Nature and Place in the World, Columbia University Press, NY.

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References
Bedeschi, G. (2008), La scuola di Francoforte, Laterza, Bari-Roma;
Honneth, A. (2012), Reification. A new Look at an Old Idea, Oxford University Press,
NY;
Kats, B. (1982), Herbert Marcuse and the Art of Liberation. An Intellectual
Biography, Verso, London;
Lipovetsky, G., Serroy, J. (2013), L’Esthétisation du Monde. Vivre à l’age ducapitalisme artiste, Gallimard, Paris; On Artistic Capitalism, Interview on Crash
Magazine 65, http://www.crash.fr/on-artistic-capitalism-by-gilles-lipovetsky-crash65/;
MacIntyre, A. (1970), Marcuse. An Exposition and a Polemic, Fontana, London;
Marcuse, H. (1978) The Aesthetic dimension: toward a Critique of Marxist Aesthetics,
Beacon Press, Boston; (1972), Art and Revolution, in Counterrevolution and Revolt,
Beacon Press, Boston; (1969) An Essay on Liberation, Beacon Press, Boston; (1999)
Kultur und Gesellschaft I, SurhKamp, Berlin; (1964) One Dimensional Man: studies
in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society, Beacon Press, Boston; (1974) Erosand Civilization, Beacon Press, Boston;
Moore, J., Wolff, K. (1967), edited by, The Critical Spirit. Essays in Honor of
Herbert Marcuse, Beacon Press, Boston;Nussbaum, M.C. (1995), Poetic Justice. The Literary Imagination and Public Life,
Beacon Press, Boston; (1999) Sex and Social Justice, Oxford University Press, NY;
Ricoeur, P. (1986), Lectures on Ideology and Utopia, Columbia University Press, NY;(1977) Freud and Philosophy. An Essay on Interpretation, Yale University Press,
New Haven/London;
Sloterdijk, P. (2017), The Aesthetic Imperative. Writings on Art, Polity Press, UK.
Contact email: abbate.fabrizia@tiscali.it

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Homework Worksheets Designed to Promote Learner Autonomy
Ya-Chiu Hsieh, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, United States
Lin Tsai, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, United States
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Abstract
This paper examines the effectiveness of a simple worksheet designed based on the
Recall Protocol assessment framework as an effort to help students develop learnerautonomy. Building students up for autonomous learning can be a long and arduous
journey, but it is what language educators aspire to achieve. The worksheet was inspiredby one of the author’s first-hand experience in the professional interpretation training
and the Recall Protocol process. The worksheet was later modified to adapt to different
proficiency level students in the intermediate and higher-intermediate Chinese Courses
at the Defense Language Institute classrooms. The worksheet streamlines and prompts
the processes for learners to take ownership of learning by examining their own
comprehension, identifying areas for improvement and setting goals for each learning
task. With proper guidance to use the worksheet in homework and in class, students canself-assess learning progress, achieve higher order thinking and set action plans forfurther learning and background knowledge building in self-directed fashion. This
paper details the research attempting to examine the effectiveness of the worksheet andits variations by comparing students’ performance on their proficiency tests before andafter the worksheet was introduced to their homework and classrooms. The paper will
lay out how the device is scaffolded in homework, how instructors utilize it to gain
insights into students’ learning and thinking processes and how these insights are
instrumental for individualized instruction.
Keywords: Learner Autonomy, Listening Comprehension, Reading Comprehension,
Recall Protocols, Notetaking, Metacognitive Learning, Self-Regulated Learning

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
For as long as people can think back, selected-response assessment has been widely
employed in schools of all levels, including multiple-choice, matching and true-false
questions while there is a growing interest in constructed-response assessment that
requires students to compose their own answers (Stecher et al., 1997). At Defense
Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), comprehension assessments
are either a hybrid module of multiple-choice and short-answer questions or a multiplechoice only module. While the hybrid module employs two types of assessment to makeup for the drawbacks of one another, it still does not provide enough clues as to howmuch a student genuinely comprehends from a passage and what a student needs
assistance with, be it vocabulary, grammar or background knowledge.

Figure 1: Blind Men and the ElephantComprehension, fundamental to language acquisition, is the second subsequentcognitive thinking process in Bloom Taxonomy that requires learners to interpret,
categorize, summarize, infer, compare and explain. In this cognitive learning level, theteacher’s role is to demonstrate, listen and examine (Oscarini & Bhakti, 2010). Learners’
conceptualization and further interpretation of a passage bases on a full scope of
information they gather from the passage. To achieve that, a teacher shall provide
guidance by demonstrating, listening to students’ summaries, inferences, interpretations
and explanations, and then examining students’ overall comprehension. As shown in
Roediger and Marsh’s study (2005), taking a multiple-choice test did not help subjects
recall information. In the authors’ experiences, multiple-choice tests do not provide
either students or teachers enough clues to examine students’ cognitive learning
processes, progress and/or problem-finding skills. As depicted in Figure 1, if one has
not been able to both trace the silhouette of the elephant and touch each part of it,
conceptualization of the creature being an elephant would not be possible. Constructedresponse questions may provide a better look at a student’s comprehension level andyet still only a partial look.

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To better guide and facilitate students to have comprehensive understanding andprogress to the next cognitive learning levels of applying, analyzing, evaluating andcreating, both students and teachers need a way to examine progress, pinpoint problems
and set courses of actions. In the classroom, a teacher can guide students to both drawout the main idea and describe details in depth; however, when doing self-study,
students either move on too quickly from an apprehensive idea or dwell on a certain
unfamiliar word for too long. As a solution to the predicament in the authors’classrooms, the RPW and its modified variations were introduced to students’
homework to help them track their own train of thoughts without teachers present. A
similar note-taking and thinking process in consecutive interpretation is being emulated
in the procedure of using the RPW. The RPW is designed vertically and sectioned fornote-takers to easily track their thoughts and reconstruct their memories just like how
an interpreter would do on a fast-paced consecutive interpretation session (Laurenzo,2008). Bernhardt and James (1987) described the Immediate Recall Protocol as theprocedure in which students listen to or read a passage and reconstruct the informationand that offers teachers a chance to obtain more information as in how and what
students understand. James (1987) also researched the Immediate Recall Protocol
framework involving the listening modality. The framework has been most known as
an alternative assessment framework for tests and has been the tool for diagnostic
assessment at DLIFLC. Grounded by Hayes and Flower’s (1980) observations that the
Recall Protocol could help teachers peek into students’ analytical process of text, theRPW was designed to visualize the framework mainly for students’ self-directed
learning in homework and life-long language acquisition. Being a simple chart, it
simplifies the self-learning process so students can line up their thoughts gained fromboth written and spoken text. It also serves as an instrument for teachers to gauge
students’ genuine progress and further differentiate instruction catering to individual
students’ areas of improvement.
This paper is to discuss the effectiveness of the use of RPW and its modified variations
in homework and in class. While the Immediate Recall Protocol framework is the basisof the practice, the focus of this paper is on how the Worksheets are scaffolded andbenefit students in their self-regulated and autonomous life-long learning.
Methodology
Participants
The paper is based on the qualitative analysis of the formal and informal feedback of a
total of 18 students, 11 from two classes in the Chinese intermediate course (64 weeks)
and 7 in the Chinese higher-intermediate course (6 weeks/19 weeks). Quantitative
analysis of the results of their proficiency tests before and after the RPW and its
variations were implemented as well as teachers’ in-class observations also inform thebasis of the paper. Including intermediate to higher-intermediate level students provides
a larger scope of the application of the RPWs. All students in both courses were required

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to obtain or maintain a minimum of ILR Level 2 proficiency1 for both listening andreading on DLPT52.
Context
The mission of DLIFLC is to provide culture-based language programs for prospect
linguists. That being said, exploration of a plethora of subject matters in target
languages is fundamental to the training, and it is instrumental to train students to workwith unfamiliar topics or context in their target languages. It is ideal that, when working
with unfamiliar topics, students process information bottom-up, gathering informationfrom each time they listen to or read a passage and connecting the dots to paint the big
picture. Unfortunately, due to lack of background information or prior knowledge ofthe topics, students tend to get frustrated or dwell on a certain word or unclear idea for
too long. The authors designed the RPWs to help their students systematically lookthrough their own notes, organize their thoughts and at least develop a rough picture
without getting stuck. The structure is intended to help students stay grounded andfollow through each comprehension drill even when no teacher is present to provide
assistance or guidance.
Instead of using the Immediate Recall Protocol for diagnostic assessment, which is thecommon practice within the Chinese Department at DLIFLC, the authors designed andrefined the RPW for homework to help students gain ownership of their learning andteachers to gain insights into students’ thinking processes.
Class I-1, one of the two intermediate classes participating in the study, started using
the Lower-Intermediate Level Recall Protocol Worksheet (LIRPW) or passage listening
and reading homework in Week 25 and the original RPW in Week 51. Class I-2, theother intermediate class in the study, started using the RPW in Week 45. Every class
was different, so the implementation timing varied. Both classes were given detailed
instructions and demonstrations on how to work with the device. The higherintermediate class participants started using the Learning Process Worksheet (LPW), a
refined version of the RPW, from the first week of the course for listening and reading
homework.
When Classes I-1 and I-2 students’ proficiencies were at the lower-intermediate level,
they needed guidance to work through the materials with unfamiliar topics andvocabulary, so they started with the LIRPW with elaborate instructions (Figure 2). This
was the first phase of scaffolding to train the students to listen to or read a passage one
to two times or three times maximum, to obtain its main idea and retrieve as many
details as possible. Depending on students’ learning styles, they could work frombottom up to organize the details and form a main idea instead. A very important step
was for the students to check their own comprehension by comparing their own notes
1

ILR (Interagency Language Roundtable) provides descriptions characterizing 6 basic language skill
levels from 0 to 5 and their “plus levels”. The minimum requirement of DLIFLC students, ILR Level 2,
is described as to have “sufficient comprehension to understand conversations on routine social demands
and limited job requirements” for listening and to have “sufficient comprehension to read simple,
authentic written material in a form equivalent to usual printing or typescript on subjects within a familiar
context” for reading. Full descriptions can be found at https://www.govtilr.org/index.htm
2
DLPT5 (Defense Language Proficiency Test 5 System) is designed to assess native English speakers’
acquired language proficiency. The DLPT5 rating system is based on the descriptions of the ILR
Language skill system.

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with the listening passage scripts, so they could “diagnose” their own comprehension
hurdles by looking at the words, grammar patterns and/or ideas they missed. Since thiswas the first phase, instead of answering content questions, the participants were asked
to design five questions based on the details they extracted, which encouraged them tothink like a teacher putting in perspective all the ideas or details. Figure 3 is an example
of a participant’s homework LIRPW, including the teacher’s feedback.

Figure 2: Lower-Intermediate Level Recall Protocol Worksheet

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Lower Intermediate
1st listen: On July 24th they asked students how it’s impacting their health. Interviewed students from age 6 to age 22. Asked
about running.
2nd listen: Besides something, they asked students about running, sports, and other physical activities. They are going to do thisfrom September until November until 2020.
3rd listen: This is the 8th time that they have done a check like this. It was organized by the education sector/department.
Besides height and body weight.
Main Idea: For the past 8 years and until 2020, the education department has organized a check to ask students about students’
health. They do this check from September to November every month and they ask about height, body weight, physical activity
level, sports, etc.
1.
2.
3.

Grammar words and new vocab:
1. tǐzhì  constitution
2. fànwéi  range
Grammar and time measure words highlighted above.

wènjuàn  questionnairejiǎncè  to detecttiáozhěng  to adjust

Self-diagnosis: Honestly, I think that the most difficult part of listening to this passage for me was the audio. The way that the man
spoke, it sounded almost robotic, like a voicemail message that is auto-recorded and left on your phone. I had a difficult time
understanding it because of that.
5 questions
1. What is being conducted for students?
2. Who organized this?
3. How do they conduct this?
4. What is being asked?
5. When do they do this? How long has it been happening for?

Instead of answering content
questions, students are asked todesign questions to get the criticalthinking process started.

Figure 3: Example of Student’s Homework Lower-Intermediate Level Recall
Protocol Worksheet
The intermediate classes progressed to the next phase and started using the original
version of the RPW (Figure 4), a rather concise version. After a few weeks of being
eased into the recall protocol framework with non-textbook materials, they were
expected to maneuver through their own thinking processes with more ease. Depending
on students’ learning styles, they could process a passage in a top-down manner bystarting with the main idea and summary or in a bottom-up manner by jotting down
every single detail extracted from the passage. Then they would, as part of their routine
for listening passages, check their own comprehension by reading the scripts, selfevaluate their own mistakes and identify their areas for improvement and even set up
courses of actions to address and improve on their learning issues. In this phase, they
had the liberty to choose whether or not to continue with the design of five content
questions. The teachers found the five questions could determine if a student activated
his higher-order thinking skills.
Figure 5 shows how a student was familiar enough with the RPW to skip using theworksheet but still follow the format. The student also carried over the routine ofcreating five questions from the lower-intermediate level version. When implementing
the RPWs, the students were granted the liberty to choose what worked best for them.
This particular student was quite thorough with the details and appeared to be
comfortable with the topic; thus, the teacher followed up with very limited comments
and added to the student’s self-diagnosis.

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Figure 4: Original Recall Protocol Worksheet for All Levels

Figure 5: Example of Student’s Homework Recall Protocol Worksheet
In the higher-intermediate curriculum, teachers worked with students who had taken
the DLPT5, and all scored higher than Level 2 before the refresher course. Given thatthe students could understand authentic materials on everyday topics, most current

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events and essential points of their professional fields, more text typologies wereintroduced to their syllabi. Typologies required students to identify writer’s tones, readbetween lines and infer from, interpret and analyze text embedded with abstract ideas
and literary devices, such as metaphor, irony, allegory, etc. The worksheet was thus
modified to accommodate the curriculum to guide students to go beyond the literalmeanings of text (Figure 6).
The refined worksheet, LPW, to provide a “one-stop shop” including the prompts forstudents to take before, during and after listening and reading assignments. Since thetopics and text typologies selected for this course were generally more complex,
students were asked to do background research on the selected topics. When theylistened to or read the passages, they were to write down the information they extracted,
be it facts listed, arguments presented, connotations behind metaphors or writer’s tones
and then summarize the passage based on their own notes. As in the lower-intermediate
and intermediate scenarios, the students were instructed to assess their work bycomparing their notes with the listening scripts for comprehension check and thenidentify ways to improve.

Figure 6: Learning Process Worksheet for Higher-Intermediate Level
Figure 7 shows an example of a student’s homework using LPW to organize histhoughts. The student’s input and teacher’s feedback were all in the target language
to match the student’s proficiency level.

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From lower-intermediate to higher-intermediate levels, the worksheets, and mostimportantly, the learning processes revolving around the worksheets, are to empower
students to gain control of their own learning and develop their own learning
strategies to navigate through different text genres and topics.

Figure 7: Example of Higher-Intermediate Level Student’s Homework Learning
Process Worksheet

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Data Collection and Analysis
The quantitative data include:
1. Classes I-1 and I-2 results of Proficiency Test I which tests comprehension ofpassages of factual content delivered in a standard dialect on everyday topics, wellknown current events and narrations of events. The test was administered in Weeks 51
and 45 in respective class, the same week as the original RPW was implemented.
2. Classes I-1 and I-2 results of Proficiency Test II which tests the comprehension of
concrete discussions, everyday vocabulary and some implications between lines, andrequires more adequate vocabulary and knowledge base to excel at this level andunderstand overtones. The test was administered 1.5 months prior to the DLPT5.
3. Classes I-1 and I-2 projected DLPT5 results based on Proficiency Test II results
and in-class observations
4. Classes I-1 and I-2 results of the DLPT5
5. Class H pre-course DLPT5 results
6. Class H post-course DLPT5 results
The teaching team of the intermediate classes projected their DLPT5 results based on
their performance on a practice proficiency test modelling DLPT5 1.5 months prior to
the DLPT5 and their in-class observations of the participants’ learning styles andperformance. The higher-intermediate level participants had taken the DLPT5 a few
months before the refresher course and took the exam again upon the completion of thecourse. The practice test results, projected DLPT5 results and final DLPT5 results of
the intermediate participants and the pre- and post-course DLPT 5 results of the higherintermediate participants were compared in the quantitative analysis. The qualitative
data from participants’ feedback were included to better understand how the practice ofusing RPW for homework affects them in terms of the development of students’ learnerautonomy.
Findings
From Proficiency Tests I to II, none of Class I-1students showed progress in thelistening modality; 4 out of 5 students saw improvement; one scored the same numberof questions in the reading modality. In contrast, 4 out of 6 in Class I-2 showed progressin the listening modality and all 6 students improved in the reading modality.
When the projected DLPT5 results were compared with the final DLPT5 results, allfive Class I-1 students scored higher than projected in the listening modality, 4 scoredas projected in the reading modality and 1 scored higher than projected in the reading
modality.
In Class H, one out of seven students showed improvement, five students maintained
the same rating and one student declined in the listening modality in the DLPT5 after
taking the refresher course. Five of seven students received a higher rating and one
received a lower rating in the reading modality than their previous DLPT5 results while
one student maintained the same rating.

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Intermediate
Students

Proficiency TestI
(LC/RC)

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Proficiency TestII
(LC/RC)

Projected DLPT 5
Results(LC/RC)DLPT 5 Results(LC/RC)Class I-1
I-1-B
I-1-C
I-1-D
I-1-H
I-1-S

40/47
37/43
1+/2
2/2+
42/49
33/47
2/2+
2+/2+
43/43
39/49
2/2
2+/2
45/41
36/46
2/2+
3/2+
42/50
37/45
1+/2
2+/2+
Proficiency Test
Proficiency Test Projected DLPT 5DLPT 5 Results
Class I-2
I
II
Results(LC/RC)(LC/RC)(LC/RC)(LC/RC)
I-2-AC
34/42
45/50
2/2+
2+/2+
I-2-JR
37/46
51/50
2+/2+
3/3
I-2-JJ
39/43
44/48
2/2
2+/2+
I-2-JN
47/51
51/57
2+/2+
3/3
I-2-CB
47/48
47/52
2/2+
3/3
I-2-M
46/46
46/47
2/2
3/2+
Table 1: Intermediate Level Student Proficiency Tests, Projected DLPT5 and Final
DLPT5 Results3
HigherPre-course DLPT 5 Post-course DLPT 5
intermediate
Results
Results
Students(Listening/Reading) (Listening/Reading)
H-L
2+/2
2+/3
H-T
2/2+
3/2
H-S
2+/2+
2+/3
H-E
3/3
3/3
H-M
2+/2+
1+/3
H-Su
3/2+
3/3
H-I
3/2+
3/3
Table 2: Higher-intermediate Level Student Pre- and Post- Refresher Course DLPT5Results
There were a few variables in the study being participants’ study habits, learning
strategies, educational background, knowledge base and morale. Most of theparticipants in the 6- or 19-week higher-intermediate class have a bachelor’s degree or
took courses in colloge. That means their knowledge bases expanded and made it easier
to maneuver the wide range of topics on the DLPT5.
In terms of study habits, most Class I-1 students lacked self-disciplines andprocorastinated on their study plans. In Class I-2, most students developed their own
study routines and never had homework incompletion issues in the final semester. Class
H students were clear and ambitious on what they had to do to maintain or break throughtheir previous DLPT5 scores.
3

LC refers to Listening Comprehension and RC refers to Reading Comprehension. The numbers incolumn 2 and 3 are the sum of the questions each individual answered correctly out of 60 questions ofeach modality in each test. The numbers in column 4 and 5 are the ratings of each individual’s proficiency
rating based on the ILR system.

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On the front of learning strategies, Class I-1 was rather stubborn about accepting
teachers’ suggestions. They only had an epiphany in the last two months. 3 out of 5
students stated in the last month of the course that they realized they had to pick up their
speed in the preparation for the DLPT5 and stick to the RPW in their homework as the
backbone of their study routines. Class I-2 was generally a class of self-disciplined
students. Although the class had not been exposed to authentic materials or muchlearning strategy training much when the author joined the class as the lead teacher at
the two thirds mark of the course, it was easy for them to pick up the recommended
learning strategies suggested by the new lead teacher. Class H participants were moreexperienced learners who graduated from the intermediate course at least one year ago.
Most of them had their go-to learning sources, ranging from target language news
outlets to flashcard apps.
As mentioned, background knowledge of the target language culture and topics ranging
from economy to environment is one of the keys to reach a higher level on DLPT5.
Class I-1 also had a lower average age and consequently was rather deficient of theknowledge base needed to achieve Level 2 and 2+ on the DLPT5. Most Class I-2
students were well read and curious by nature and found it easier to navigate the various
topics covered in the DLPT5. Four of the Class H participants had a bachelor’s degreeand one took courses in college. Five had regular exposure to the target langugage news
or TV shows.
Morale is an essential factor in the success of the students at DLIFLC, particularly in
the intermediate course, as this intensive program lasts for 64 weeks and proceeds at animmensely fast pace. Class I-1, unfortunately, suffered low morale in the last semester.
That might have had an impact on their Proficiency Test I. Class I-2, contrary to Class
I-1, had their morale boosted when approaching the DLPT5 mainly because of theimmersion trip to one of the target language countries. Many of them shared that theimmersion trip allowed them to apply the target language and gain first-hand culturalexperiences they learned in class. Some Class H participants were more driven in therefresher course than when they took the intermediate course mostly because they had
more concrete goals and clearer pictures for their futures.
Student feedback showed positive relationships between their succeses on DLPT5 andthe use of the RPW and LPW. One student in Class I-1 mentioned in the end-of-course
evaluation that “there are many notes on my assignments giving me in-depth feedback
for everything I had done that night.” Class I-2 students did not share any feedback on
the RPW in particular, but in the last two months of the course, the students were very
active with the RPW, turning in extra listening and reading in the RPWs. While ClassI-1 and I-2 were more subtle or inspecific with their feedback on the use of the RPW
and its variations, Class H students were very specific with their views on theimplementation of the LPW. They shared in face-to-face interviews and written
evaluations their thoughts: “They [LPW] helped me understand what I actually
understand versus what I though I understood.”, “The homework sheet is effective. I
think it allows students to focus on the parts of that they feel they need to work on.
Whether it's global understanding, specific grammar patterns, focus on vocab,
determining the underlying meaning of the author, idioms. more freedom to explore
each Units material by using HW sheet.”, “ … using HW sheet to do an analysis ofarticles to get a deeper understanding of texts or sound files, and to be able to figure out

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what was not understood at first and realize mistakes to learn from them.”, and “I plan
to utilize newer study tactics moving forward such as analysis for listening practice andcomprehension, and check my grammar and word usage.”
Conclusion
While the study could not demonstrate to the fullest scope the direct relationships
between the use of the RPW and students’ standardized assessments in selectedresponse form, it generally made an impact on the participants’ study habits and helped
the vast majority of them meet or exceed their minimum graduation requirement ofLevel 2 on DLPT5.
Using recall as a teaching device in second-langauge acquisition is to “reflect naturally
occurring processes in comprehension” (Bernhardt and James, 1987, p.17). While it ismany language educators’ experiences that it takes extensive time to grade and give
feedback for students recalls, the insights into students’ thinking processes andconsequent individualized feedback/instruction are crucial to students’ learning
outcomes. In view of language learning being a continuous task, students ought to havea tool to self-evaluate learning outcomes and set courses of actions for higher goals.
The study widened the scope of utilization of the Immediate Recall Protocol to the selfregulated learning processes by assigning RPWss and its variations as homework.
The authors changed their perspectives and created something to apply a much disussed
framework in a shifted language teaching and learning paradigm. In the shifted
paradigm, teachers are encouraged to look beyond a, b, c, d, and learners are
empowered to manage their learning progress. Using the RPW for homework has beena routine for many classes in the Chinese department at DLIFLC. It has become
prevalent from class to class and has been modified and refined to accommoate different
teaching methodologies, learning styles and learning objectives.

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References
Bernhardt, E. B. & James, C. J. (1987). The teaching and testing of comprehension inforeign language learning. In D. W. Birckbichler, (Ed.), Proficiency, Policy, andProfessionalism in Foreign Language Education. Report of the Central States
Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (Columbus, Ohio, April 9-11,
1987). Selected Papers (pp. 65-81). Lincolnwood, Illinois: National Textbook
Company.
Hayes, J. R., & Flower, L. S. (1980). Identifying the organization of writing
processes. In L. W. Gregg & E. R. Steinberg (Eds.), Cognitive Processes in Writing:
An Interdisciplinary Approach (pp. 3-30). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
James, Charles J. & Wisconsin Univ., Madison. School of Education. (1987). The
immediate recall protocol as an elicitation technique in the listening modality ofuniversity-level students of German. Washington, D.C.: ERIC Clearinghouse,
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED299801
Laurenzo, H. (2008, October). Note taking for consecutive interpreting. ATA
Chronicle. https://www.ata-chronicle.online/wpcontent/uploads/3710_24_hana_laurenzo.pdf
Oscarini, S.L., & Bhakti, W. (2010). Bloom’s Taxonomy: Original and Revised.
Jurnal Eksis, 6 (2), 1526-1529. Retrieved fromhttp://karyailmiah.polnes.ac.id/Download-PDF/EKSIS-VOL.06-NO.2-AGUSTUS2010/NO%20-%2015%20-%20oscar%20%20BLOOM%E2%80%99S%20TAXONOMY%20%20ORIGINAL%20AND%20REVISED.pdf
Roediger, H. L. & Marsh, E. J. (2005). The positive and negative consequences ofmultiple-choice testing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, andCognition 31(5), 1155-1159. doi: 10.1037/0278-7393.31.5.1155
Stecher, B. M., Rahn, M., Ruby, A., Alt M., Robyn, A., & Ward, B. (1997). Using
Alternative Assessments in Vocational Education. Santa Monica, CA: RAND
Corporation. Retrieved fromhttps://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR836.html
Contact email: yaky1011@gmail.com
cassandra.tsai@gmail.com

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Museum as Meditative Environment
Elena Polyudova, The Defense Language Institute, United States
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Abstract
The article considers a special term "meditative space" regarding modern museums’
environment. The term is considered in the context of modern venues in Museum
Education that are concentrated on interactive communication with visitors. In
accordance with a brief description of the contemporary museum philosophy, theauthor emphasizes the importance of keeping some elements of traditional
expositions. Such a conventional demonstration way allows for the establishedcommunication style between museum visitors and works of art. Creating clusters ofmeditative space in modern museums meet a visitor’s need for artifacts’ independent
perception. These clusters have to be planned by curators who need to be aware of thenecessity of such silent activities in the museum's environment. To confirm thepremise, the author provides examples from the aesthetic experience perception as
well as views of modern researchers. The article provides examples of the meditative
spaces organized in modern museums, the specific aim to give visitors a possibility toenjoy y their inner reflection during a museum visit.
Keywords: Aesthetic Experience, Museum Pedagogy, Meditative Space, Museum
Environment, Modern Museum, Interactive Communication

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Introduction
The article deals with the particular term "meditative space" in relation to the modern
Museum environment. This term is considered in the context of modern Museum
education platforms focused on interactive communication with visitors. In
accordance with the brief description of modern Museum philosophy, the authoremphasizes the importance of preserving some elements of traditional exhibitions.
This traditional method of demonstration is well-established style of communication
between Museum visitors and works of art. However, the reis a need for special quiet
place visitors might need to find self-retrospection and calmness while processing
information about the collection. Creating clusters of meditative space in modern
museums meets the visitor's need for the independent perception of artifacts. Plannedby curators who are aware of the need for such silent activities in the Museum
environment, these clusters could turn museums from silent set of artifacts to placesof critical thinking and consideration. Several examples from the perception ofaesthetic experience are provided in the article as well as examples of meditative
spaces organized in modern museums.
The problem of the interactive museum recently has become central to thedevelopment of both general and museum pedagogy. Museums and schools aroundthe world discuss issues of active interaction between the museum and the visitor.
Many theoretical studies and practical developments in modern museum pedagogy
offer new museums’ concepts, define new strategies for developing museum activities
and museum pedagogy. There are different options of understanding the place of themuseum in the modern world. In the museums as the “museum-informativeenvironment” (M. S. Kagan) visitors experience cognitive challenges, gain knowledge
about collections and artifacts. The informative environment represents fields ofcultural heritage that could be explored in a museums though exhibitions. The"information and cumulative culture of the museum” (Flier) collects cultural memory.
Altogether with personal experience during the visit, it accumulates cultural
background knowledge. To organize the better museum experience, culturalclassification of museums (Sapanzha) is needed and was developed. For
understanding "museum perception" (S. V. Pshenichnaya) and move it to the moredeveloped level, museums constantly continue working on different types of materials
for individual and group visits. The “typology of dialogue” of visitors with works ofart (K. Dufresne-Tasse) gives museum educators the instrument for efficientmanagement of visits. Overall, the museum space as a term combines all types ofactivities and is also considered from the point of view of interactive communication
with visitors based on V. Benjamin's ideas about contact with “living” and “mobile”
traditions represented by works of art in museums. The "constructivist museum"(Hein) develops educational methods in modern circumstances of visual culture andtechnology life. To achieve this goal, numerous approaches and programs are being
developed in the field of museum pedagogy from the perspective of artistic perception
development (B. A. Stolyarov). The majority of methods are based on interactive (G.
Black) and socio-cultural activities of the museum (E. P. Olesina). In general, modern
museum is considered as a social, educational platform (Hein). The endless list of
existing theoretical research and practical developments could be discussed
extensively for Museum Education is trying to hear museum visitors and to be heard
by them too.

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Methodology
It is important to provide active involvement of visitors in museum activities.
However, all the activities being interactive and socially engaged, there is a lack of
having in museums a space for communicating with oneself. It is a more traditionaland fundamental function of the museum: reflexive perception of the originals, thesensual contemplation (L. Feuerbach) and the special ways of connecting concepts
and observations (I. Kant). "The imaginary museum" A. Malro combines the“impractical emotional activity" of a museum visitor into a single discourse of living
an individual aesthetic experience while visiting the museum. Why this question was
asked in a situation of active development of social projects and transformation of therole of museums in modern society. It would seem that the main requirement is speed
and quickness of reaction. Many studies confirm both the clip-like thinking of modernman, and his impatience in the process of obtaining information, the desire to getsearch results quickly and effectively, emphasizing the dominant role of social
networks and a constant connection to the Internet. Personal, psychological, andpedagogical qualities of both modern youth and adults are studied in connection withthe constant use of social networks. The principle of individual psychologicalorganization deepens in introversion and introspective thinking. To process new
information, our brain needs time. With lack of the time the informational flow isrejected. Eye-opener for seeing the originals and perceive the silence of painting. Find
yourself through artworks by immersing into the colors and silent sounds of apainting.
The concept of the deep silent perception could be expanded to a concept of themeditative perception. It does not intend to entertain, but to open a new world ofimages, phenomena, and information carefully selected by curators for demonstration.
Getting into a Museum that does not entertain, but represents, the visitor enters aworld that needs to be known and understood, which requires " concentration andimmersion” (V. Benjamin). To realize understanding, in accordance with the laws ofperception, the human psyche needs to go through three phases. The first is
informational when phenomena appear in their true form. The second phase is asurprise, finding what is strange, incomprehensible, new, and so on. (This list may beendless, just as the moments of surprise are endless.) The third phase is searching foryour place, yourself, in this space of phenomena and information. Search for the
relationship between the presented and your experience, knowledge, and thoughts.
Based on reflection, on the basis of such a search, there is a personal increment in avariety of directions, from the expansion of the information field (I did not know this– now I know) to the essence of the phenomena of disclosure (how people of a
specific era thought and perceived the world). The peculiarity of the perception
process is that we cannot program a sequence of phase processes. Often, when
visiting a museum, the visitor is first surprised by something, and only thencomplements the interest with the necessary knowledge. Or, vice versa, coming to theMuseum to learn something (”see " - the purpose of their visit, visitors determine howoften), they experience a powerful surge of emotional perception, followed by bothinformational and reflexive phases. In this context, we would like to mention theconcept of a model of Museum visitors’ behavior, developed by the Canadian scholar
K. Dufresne-Tasse. This model is based on the thesis that any visit to a Museum is,first of all, a dialogue. And just as a dialogue can be both successful and unsuccessful,

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so a visit to a Museum cannot take place, that is, leave no trace, but can become
effective, accompanied by feelings of " admiration and immersion” (Dufresne, 187).
The tourist industry demands displaying masterpieces, making museums “places ofpilgrimage” (Borja-Villel). Business and commercial interests dictate ways andmethods of museums’ work, and is reflected in the organization of work, and in theways of communicating with visitors. Modern museum narrate and engage in a newentertaining way, speaking with their audience in a special language of amusement.
They respond to the trends of the time. And even with the modern fragmentation ofperception of the world, reflected in the fragmentation of modern exhibitions andexpositions, it is necessary to find opportunities for expressing general theoretical,
aesthetic, and artistic concepts for building a meditative communication process withworks. It could be named a "meditative space.”
The meditative space: definition and museum experiments
The meditative space of a museum is a special reflexive state reached by a visitor in
the museum during the process of viewing a permanent collection or exhibition. It
exists as a part of aesthetic perception and reflection. A person is deeply concentrated
on his/her internal experiences in the process of contemplating on works of art. It
intersects two worlds: the inner world of a person and the physical reality of themuseum and its exposition. Thus, the visitor, being physically present at theexhibition, creates a specific additional space for their perception, impressions,experiences, and reflections. One of the factors that activate the meditative space isthe presence of original works of art that carry an impressive aesthetic and emotionalcharge ("aura”, according to Benjamin). They are also culturally representative of aparticular epoch’s style (”living and moving traditions", according to V. Benjamin).
All of these factors immerse a person in internal reflections and, as a result, create thepreconditions for “silent perception”. Forestalling the argument about the possibilityof using the term “contemplation”, the attention should be drawn to the moment ofpresence inherent in this concept. Also, contemplation presupposes a response to aparticular object. Meditativeness in this context emphasizes the intermediate state inwhich a museum visitor finds himself: physically, he no longer contemplates the workof art, but it is present in his perception, generating cultural analogies, questions, andinternal dialogue. The term meditative space covers the entire complex of feelings,
thoughts, and associations evoked by one or more works of art. This is an incomplete
process of including a work of art in an internal museum that could be called “prestate” that requires time and unusual thoughtfulness and mood.
Hence, the meditative space could be defined as a special form of the museum
visitor's state based on the aesthetic perception of the original works of art. This spacecan be maintained by museum employees at the physical level using certain means oforganizing the museum's segments and spaces. These segments could be useful toovercome visitors’ “museum fatigue" (Black, 66) – “a special physical and mental
state that occurs in visitors after a certain time spent in the museum” (Black, 66).
Although the difference between the age and psychological features of this condition
was not distinguished by age, education, and other criteria, organizing special zones
with seats helps to regulate visitors’ flow and relieve this fatigue. They could beallocated in the most important areas for familiarization with the help of signs, color
zoning or thematic structuring of the exposition (Black, 92). The concept is important

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and could have a further development toward the idea of the meditative space: for an
unprepared visitor, it will be the “museum fatigue”; for a person with the reflexive
experience, it could be a “meditative space”, a place of solitude and reflection. For
example, the State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow, Russia) has recently created a special“living
room”
zone
in
the
middleoftheentireexposition(https://www.tretyakovgallery.ru/about/projects/gostinaya-novoy-tretyakovki-iarzamas/). The room is decorated in the style of 60s of XXth century with theminimalistic aesthetics of colors, furniture, and the interior’s details. The living roomhas books, comfortable chairs, coffee tables, and lamps. All the details create a special
ambience of a cozy space for rest, relaxation, and nice friendly conversation. Thezone became very popular: people gather there to chat, to look though the books andmagazines, and simply to spend time in silence. The living room is intentionallylocated in the middle of the gallery to help people find a space of solitude andcontemplation. Thoughtfully created, such zones not only support visitors, but also
advance the concept of modern museums to the level of being people’s places.
The meditative environment helps visitors to find themselves in the ocean of
associations and information. For example, the Garage Museum (Moscow, Russia),
modern avant-guard museum, organized a chamber exhibition “Dolphin in theFountain” in March 2018, by Ando Vekua (...). This exhibition is about “moving
deeper,deeperinto
theimagination
andmemories.
(https://tvrain.ru/lite/teleshow/artificial_selection/ledi_bred_prinuzhdenie-459716/).
The exhibition itself was created as a meditative space that generates visitors’reflection. The curator’s intention is clear and goes around the main concept ofprovoking visitors to look inside themselves.
Another example is even straightforward: museum experience advertises meditative
tours in the National art Museum of Belarus (Minsk, Belarus). This program wasorganized and conducted by the cognitive-behavioral therapist Ekaterina Karpovich:"according to statistics, the average time a user spends in front of a picture is 17
seconds. And how much time does an artist spend to think about an idea and paint a
picture? And how much intellectual information and sensory depth can you get in 17
seconds? Art requires attention, awareness, and time. Unfortunately, often our trips tomuseums
are
more
like
a
marathon.”(https://www.thevillage.me/village/culture/culture-news/266613-meditatsii-v-muzee)
E. Karpovich was concerned about deep understanding of a work of art based on thetime spent to perceive it. Her intentions were about real perception, when a person not
only watch, but sees. Her methods provides a possibility to go from a viewer to aperceiver. This approach is one of the examples of the meditative space, a live
meditative space, when a certain atmosphere of perception creates a special“meditative bubble” that surrounds a group of visitors. At this point, they stop being
visitors, but become a part of the museum environment in all means.
All the examples indicate that the process of defining and creating the meditative
space is a live process. It is developing in the modern world and could be consideredas the response to the pressure of the virtual culture, technological challenges, lack oflive communication, and the sense of community. It needs to be developed indifferent ways by curators and museum educators to turn museums into places ofsolace, self-reflection, and psychological comfort.

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The meditative space for educational purposes
From the educational point of view, this space is the perfect end to a museum visit.
Whether it is possible to create a meditative space during the tour is a controversial
and complex question. The first response to this question is, of course, denial - how
can a collective inner meditative state be possible? The process of deep perception, as
well as experience, is an internal process. However, our experience shows that when
conducting excursions by an experienced curator for a prepared audience of visitors,
this space gradually sublimates, uniting the group into a whole unit. There comes a“moment of truth” for the whole group when everyone finds their own way to reflect
on the work in a common meditative space created, supported, and guided by acurator. Such excursions were conducted for high school students of the Lyceum #3,
Dzerzhinsky city, Moscow Region. A part of the General education program was the
subject "History of World Culture". The teacher integrated the study of a certain eraof art with visits to the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. A visit either started or ended
the study of a certain goal of understanding the arts. The visits were conducted by one
curator, with whom the school teacher discussed some aspects of the integrated
course. For example, the students’ response to the previous tour; or the correlation
between the informative material and the time allocated for the analysis of theartwork. This organization of work allowed the teacher to expand the horizons ofperception of the Gallery’s artworks in many directions, from the information field tothe development of skills for analyzing a work of art. For the curator, this form ofwork was also interesting, since it allowed to trace the dynamics of the group's
perception of art, along with an increasingly growing individual approach. Students
became part of the curator’s educational and excursion space, who knew each personby sight and knew the group’s individual characteristics and capabilities. For students,
this form of work was a revelation. These museum visits have developed their ability
and skills to perceive and analyze art, but finally to form their personal meditative
space. Later, on the basis of such excursions, students were able to create a kind of
meditative space within the framework of classes at the school, which became
possible also because these students have a particularly developed rich artistic
imagination. After the integrated course, conducting "imaginary excursions" in theclassroom became a favorite type of practical training.
In modern life, when too many people gather, the significance of the exhibits isdevalued, and in the absence of silence, the visitor does not have the opportunity toenter into an internal dialogue with the work of art, enjoy contemplation, and think
about the cultural relations of the work.
Conclusion
The trends in the development of museum space during recent decades considered in
the article led to the concept of meditative space as an invaluable part of modern
museum activities. The definition and the examples demonstrate a new turn in
informative and educational approaches in Museum Studies and praxis. The new
methods do not put aside traditional forms of displays and exhibitions for this allows
maintaining a classical, “informative”, form of communication with works of art.
However, the role of modern museums is polyfunctional, from developing social
skills and cognitive improvement to creating a field for art perception, reflection, andinspiration. Even being socially active and entertaining, the museum will remain a

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meeting place with art if it creates conditions for a meditative space for visitors.
Understanding the need for the meditative space and creating special clusters help
visitors think about their independent perception. It shows respect to visitors,
generates their appreciation of collections and exhibitions. In the world of constantpressure of the digital culture, the museum space, traditional or innovative, remains
the interactive platform of cultural heritage with the involvement of visitors in a
dialogue, as well as with specially organized additional areas of recreation, privacy,
and reflection.
Acknowledgments
The views presented are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent theviews of the Department of Defense or its Components.

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References
T. P. Kalugina, Khudozhestvenny muzei kak fenomen kultury, SPb: Petropolis, 2008.
M. V. Korotkova, “Museinaya pedagogika v svete tendentsy razvitija istoricheckogo
obrasovanija XX veka”, Nauka i shkola, #2, pp. 173-179, 2016.
E. P. Olesina, E. M. Akishina, O. I. Radomskaya, “Perspectivy razvitija
dopolnitelnogo obrazovanija khudozhestvennoi napravlennosti v sootvetstvii s
vyzovami vremeni”, Pedagogika iskusstva: setevoi electronnyi nauchnyi zhyrnal. #4,
2017, http://www.arteducation.ru/sites/default/files/journal_pdf/akishina_olesina_radomskaya_9-17.pdf
S. V. Pshenichnaya, “Museiny yasyk” I fenomen museja”, serija “”Mysliteli”. V
diapazone gumanitarnogo znanij. Sbornik k 80-letiju professora M. S. Kagana. SanktPeterburg: Sankt-Peterburgskoje filosofskoje obschestvo, vol. 4, pp. 233-239, 2001.
O. S. Sapanzha, “Museinoje obrazovanije i museinaja pedagogika v rossijskoi
academicheskoi traditsii i praktike museinogo dela: granitsy ispolzovanija ponyatiy i
ikh soderzhanije”, Obschestvo, sotsiologija, psikhologija, pedagogika. #1, 2017,https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/muzeynoe-obrazovanie-i-muzeynaya-pedagogika-vrossiyskoy-akademicheskoy-traditsii-i-praktike-muzeynogo-dela-granitsyispolzovaniya [accessed 29.04.2019].
V. Benjamin, “Proizvedenije iskusstva v epokhu ego tekhnicheskoi
vosproizvodimisti” in Izbrannyje esse (ed. Y. S. Zdorovogo), M: Medium, 1996.
G. Black, Transforming Museums in the Twenty-First Century, London and New
York: Routledge, 2012.
E. Polyudova, Current Streams in American Art Education, Newcastle upon Tyne:
Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018.
L. Mirghadr, N. Farsani, Z. Shafiei & M. Hekmat, “Identification of key components
of visitor education in a museum”, Museum Management and Curatorship, vol. 33:3,
pp. 223-234, 2018. DOI: 10.1080/09647775.2018.1466192.
M.-S. Poli, “Éducation et musée”, Culture & Musées / Hors-série, 2013, pp. 165-187,
DOI : 10.4000/culturemusees.757“V natsionalnom musee provedut meditatsii” // The Village, Belarus, 16 March, 2018
г. https://www.the-village.me/village/culture/culture-news/266613-meditatsii-vmuzee

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Hybrid Learning Higher Education: The Co-Creation of Value in the Student’s
View
Waldine Fialho, Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
Ramon Leite, Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
Sofia Gaio, Fernando Pessoa University, Portugal
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Abstract
Interaction (student-teacher relationship) and active participation (student
involvement) were enhanced due to digital transformation and as long as the student
interacts with the teacher, he changes into co-creator student, as the perception of hisrole in the process of learning evolves. A context in which it is possible to observe
such conjuncture in higher education, is hybrid education where digital technology
plays a central role. In higher education with hybrid disciplines, student, teacher andinstitution are interrelated and, by offering hybrid disciplines, the institution enables
the joint value creation, but it remains unclear whether the student will be willing toparticipate more actively and contribute to such co-creation of value. This study aims
to reveal the student’s perception of this method which requires a more active
participation in his learning process and also aims to examine whether the university
should adopt this modality the student’s formation process. In order to meet thisobjective, a qualitative research was conducted, through in-depth interviews withstudents from a private, community, confessional and philanthropic higher education
institution in Brazil. After having processed the data using the content analysis
method, it was discoverd that although the student values its protagonism with more
responsibility in learning, co-creation is a difficult, laborious process. Thus, it isconsidered positive for the university to adopt the hybrid model, as it allows students
to develop discipline that contributes to their autonomy, as well as a shift in theirmindset to a different way of learning and teaching.
Keywords: Hybrid Learning, Interaction, Active Participation, Co-Creation of Value,
Higher Education

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Introduction
Co-creation, in certain areas, is more than appropriate, it seems inherent to theactivity. This is the case of teaching, where the student, the teacher and the institution
focus on the result of the service through the development of skills and abilities. The
role of creating value for the student cannot be the sole responsibility of the institution
offering the service, since it must be carried out together with it, that is, co-created(Brambilla, 2010; Hofstatter, 2010; Carvalho, 2017). The company (higher education
institution), does not create, it can only propose value (Prahalad & Ramaswamy(2004).
It is not the case here to market education, let alone diminish its importance.
Understanding it as a service, even though there is a discussion about this not being a
traditional service provision, it is, in this circumstance, having as a central point theresources that can guarantee the quality of the service it provides to the educational
institution, as reflected Brambilla (2010) and Carvalho (2017), whose research wasdedicated to the theme of value co-creation in the context of higher education, both inperson and at distance, respectively. Even knowing that the topic is controversial,
especially among professionals in the field of education, in this study, the student isunderstood as the recipient of the service, and education as a service whose main
objective is not only profit, but mainly the social perspective (Svensson & Wood,
2007; Brambilla, 2010; Carvalho, 2017).
Value co-creation presents itself as a multifaceted phenomenon that challenges andbrings new research opportunities, given the economic and social changes. However,
Carvalho (2017) stated that the theme of co-creation of value has still been little
explored, especially in distance learning. In the case of hybrid education, understoodin this research as a synonym for semi-presential education - a modality that unites
traditional presence with distance education, making it possible to enjoy theadvantages of both (Voigt, 2007; Bacich, Tanzi Neto & Trevisani, 2015) - if a similar
reality.
It seems to make sense to provide a dialogue between co-creation of value, private
higher education that adopts the hybrid teaching model and the student's experiences.
This research seeks to contribute, by proposing to answer the following question: how
does the student feel when studying in the hybrid modality that requires a more active
participation in his learning process and examining about being positive, for his
formation, the university adopts this modality in its course?
A qualitative research was conducted with undergraduate students of different courses
distributed in the areas of Social, Exact and Health Sciences who had already attended
at least 20% of the credit hours of the course and at least one discipline in the hybrid
modality, of a community, confessional and philanthropic private university in Brazil.
Data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews, recorded on audio
and using a script as the guide. The collected data were analyzed through content
analysis.
The structure of this study presents, first, the co-creation of value in the context of
hybrid higher education. After, the relationship between technology and the conceptof the co-creative student is explained. The methodology used to achieve the

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objectives proposed by this study is presented. The data analysis and the discussion of
the results are presented. Finally, the conclusions of the study are made, as well as thepossibilities for further research on the subject.
Background
Value co-creation in the context of higher education
The search for value in education is not a new issue (Brambilla, 2010; Hofstatter,
2010; Carvalho, 2017). In the genesis of teaching there are the essential characteristicsof the concept of co-creation of value, that is: interaction (student-teacher
relationship) and active participation (student involvement). Studies on co-creation ofvalue in the context of higher education have been on the agenda of many researchers(Tsourela et al, 2015; Ribes-Giner, et al, 2016; Blau & Shamir-Inbal, 2017; Chemi &Krogh, 2017; Ranjbarfard & Sureshjani, 2017). For this, the studies carried out by
Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2004) and by Vargo and Lusch (2004, 2006, 2008) served
as an initial basis.
Contemporary researchers (Tsourela et al, 2015; Ribes-Giner, Perello-Marín & Díaz,
2016; Blau & Shamir- Inbal, 2017; Chemi & Krogh, 2017; Ranjbarfard & Sureshjani,2017) believe that it is necessary to bring them into the debate the co-creation of value
in the context of higher education to contribute on four fronts of understanding. They
are: training students prepared to face the challenges of their academic andprofessional training, enabling student involvement in different stages of the service
offered by higher education institutions, reducing costs and increasing satisfaction,
confidence and loyalty. Higher education institutions are reviewing their roles,
seeking to follow a more effective path of research, teaching and learning, including
other aspects: emotional, sensory, affective and psychological learning (Tsourela et al,2015).
The concept of co-creation in the context of higher education, indicates that in all
educational processes, the participation of students is welcome, in order to try toguarantee the creation of knowledge together with them, that is, to go beyond justtaking a course higher education and obtaining a diploma, as well as increasing thecompetitiveness of higher education (Tsourela et al, 2015). Higher education
institutions must then develop and define their vision, guidelines and educational
objectives involving students and putting into practice greater motivation in teaching(Bailey, 2000).
The next topic presents digital technology as an enhancer of interaction (relationshipbetween co-creator student and teacher) and active participation (involvement of cocreator student) in the learning process and co-creation of value.
Technology and the co-creator student
The digital transformation, which among other various contributions, expanded accessto technologies, including introducing them into education (Castells, 2013), madepossible both the interaction (the student's relationship with the teacher) and the active
participation (of the student) ) gain new contours, that is, they were enhanced, and canalso occur collectively, in a network and without depending on time and distance

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Official Conference Proceedings(Díaz-Méndez & Gummesson, 2012). The concept of co-creative student, proposed
by Halbesleben and Wheeler (2009) seems to be in line with this technologicalcontext.
The contributions of research by Halbesleben and Wheeler (2009) presented fourmodels to identify the profile and the types of roles that the student can play in theteaching-learning relationship. They are: Student as a Consumer, Student as an
Employee, Student as a Co-Creator and Student as a Junior Partner and, of these fourmodels, the authors analyzed that the most congruent for the understanding ofteaching as a process of co-creation of value was that of the Student as Co-Creator . In
this model, it was found the best results of interest, learning and agrees with the ideaof bringing to the relationship, the best composition of value for all involved. For
Halbesleben and Wheeler (2009), this model has the differential that the student coproduces the results of the service, that is, its qualification.
Active participation (of the student) and interaction (between student and teacher) canbe enhanced, supported by digital technologies. At the same time, the ways ofteaching and learning are being reconfigured, enabling changes in the design ofteaching and learning practices (Díaz-Méndez & Gummesson, 2012; Tsourela et al.,2015).
An example where it is possible to observe such a situation in higher education is
hybrid education. In this academic modality, it is understood that digital technology
occupies a prominent place, because it is a condition for it to be realized (Haughey,
2006; Tori, 2009; Horn & Staker, 2014; Bacich et al (2015) The next topic presents
the concept of hybrid education and its congruence with the value co-creation process.
Hybrid teaching in higher education
For Tori (2009), Horn and Staker (2014) and Bacich et al (2015), in the hybrid model,
there is a potential to improve the quality and efficiency of learning. As theseresearchers evaluated, due to the combination of virtual and face-to-face learning
systems, it is feasible to make use of several languages simultaneously, favoring
communication and space / time integration, in addition to meeting different learning
styles and rhythms, allowing to increase the productivity of both the student and theteacher.
As for the definition of hybrid education, there are different understandings and, forthe purposes of this study, the following was chosen: “any formal educational
program in which a student learns, at least in part, through online teaching, with some
type of control over time, space, course and / or pace and, at least in part, in aphysical, supervised location ”(Horn & Staker, 2014, p.34).
The hybrid teaching modality is governed by six principles that were outlined byresearchers (Bertolin & De Marchi, 2014) who studied the topic. Table 1 presents
these principles and the aspects of hybrid education, indicating the congruence of thismodality with the phenomenon of co-creation of value.

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Principles

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Features

Essential features of value
co-creation
1) Time and space
activities can be carried out at a Active participation
flexibility
time and place more appropriate
for the student
2) Interaction andconstruction of knowledge is Interaction
andActivecollaboration in learning permeated by dialogue, by the participationexchange of experiences andknowledge between the actors
involved
3) Maximizing the use
ICT’s(information
and Interaction
andActivecommunication technologies) are participationof technology in
educationat the service of the teaching andlearning
process,
helping
students in building knowledge
and appropriating the use ofdigital tools for the professional
field4) Autonomous learning training students who self- Active participation
regulate their learning and who
areresponsiblefortheorganization of studies5) Quality materials
phases of planning, insertion and Active participation
evaluation of the tools to be
implemented in the disciplines ofeach hybrid course
6) Pedagogical and student
engagement
and Interaction
andActivetechnical support
encouragement in academic participation
activities
Table 1. Principles of hybrid education and congruence with the Value Co-creation
process
Source: Prepared by the authors from Bertolin and De Marchi (2014).
It appears that hybrid education finds in digital technology a fundamental component
for its understanding as a process of co-creation of value. The essential characteristics
of value co-creation that are congruent with the principles of hybrid education(Bertolin & De Marchi, 2014), that is, the interaction between student and teacher andthe active participation of the student to co-create value (qualification) are found in
the technological support, your optimization.
After portraying the concept of hybrid education and its congruence with the processof co-creating value, the next topic presents the methodology adopted by this study.
Methodology
A qualitative research was conducted with sixteen undergraduate students, fromcourses in the areas of Social, Exact and Health Sciences who had already attended atleast 20% of the course credit hours and had taken at least one discipline in the hybrid
modality. The interviews were performed between the months of August and

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November 2019, and the selection of the respondents started with a recommendationof students pointed out by the institution’s DE coordinator.
The research locus was a large, private, community, confessional and philanthropic
Brazilian university institution, with more than 50,000 students, which offers courses
in different areas of knowledge and in different levels: undergraduate, specialization,
master and doctorate. This institution offers in-person, distance and hybrid courses,
and for over ten years it has been offering distance learning courses. Data collection
was carried out through in-depth interviews, recorded on audio, each lasting
approximately one hour and carried out at the university itself, on days and times
previously scheduled with students. A semi-structured script was used as a guide,based on the literature on the topic.
Both the transcription and the treatment of the data was done using the content
analysis method. The indicators were defined to make inferences of the knowledge
related to the production / reception conditions (inferred variables) of the content of
the messages (Bardin, 2011). The categorical analysis technique, that is, an analysis
developed from a category, where the data are grouped, considering the common part
between them (Bardin, 2011) was the choice for this study. A category is defined by a
key term that expresses both the concept and its semantic field (Vala, 2007).
Thematic analysis was chosen to establish the characteristics of the message, its
informational value, words, arguments and ideas (Vala, 2007). From the reports
collected from the students, units of meaning were extracted, according to the defined
theme, and then inferences were developed. Next, the data analyzes are presented,
where the categories that were initially defined based on the Literature are identified,
but were consolidated after the data obtained from the interviews.
Data analysis
The analyzed categories aimed to identify how the student feels when studying in amodality that requires a more active participation in their learning process and to
examine whether the university adopts this modality in its course for its formation.
'Co-creation' was the category defined based on Literature, in the light of the studies
by Svensson and Wood (2007) and Halbesleben and Wheeler (2009) on the active
participation of students, the interaction between students and teachers and the roles
that the student can play in the teaching-learning relationship. The category 'Adoption'
was defined based on research by Bailey (2000) and Chemi and Krogh (2017) on how
educational institutions should motivate teaching, with guidelines that involve
teachers in the training of students prepared for new and technological world settings.
The consolidation of these two categories of analysis took place after data collection.
For a better presentation of the analyzed data, in Table 2, below, the categories
considered for the study are identified, as well as their respective descriptions.

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Category
Co-creation
Adoption

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Description
Presents the interaction between student and teacher and theactive participation of the student as the characteristics tococreate value (qualification)
Examines whether to be positive, for student training, theuniversity adopt this modality in its course
Table 2 - Research analysis categories
Source: Research data.

Co-creation in the student's view
The interaction between student and teacher and the active participation of the student
are the essential characteristics to create value (qualification). Such characteristics arecongruent with three of the six principles of hybrid teaching defined by Bertolin and
De Marchi (2014): a) interaction and collaboration in learning; b) maximizing the useof technology in education; c) pedagogical and technical support.
The interviewed students believe that the interaction with the teacher and having
active participation - co-creation - during their university career is something
rewarding and they are aspects that should be inherent in their learning process, evenunderstanding how hard this is for them. Students 1 and 6 explained:
I think if you want to grow more, you know, to have some ‘bigger prominence’, I
think you have to have this active participation, it makes perfect sense, right. And
I honestly have no problem with that, because I see that it is something, really,natural, it is necessary. So, I have no problem with that, I think it's fair (Student
1).
I feel kind of obliged, you know, because that is what will define the professionalthat I will be and, like it or not, I will also prove the quality of the college,
directly I will be doing this (Student 6).
From these students' understandings, it is indicated that the concept of co-creation isrelated to the role that he can (or should) play during his learning process, that is, theprotagonist, with more responsibility, because his participation is more active andprovides partnership with the teacher. The model of the Student Co-creator of
Halbesleben and Wheeler (2009), where the student co-produces the results of theservice seems to be in line with the findings of the interviews. In the context of higher
education, the concept of co-creation indicates that in all educational processes,
student participation is welcome, as was also found in the research undertaken by
Tsourela et al (2015), involving the co-creation of value and the university teaching
service.
It is possible to analyze that a favorable path for the higher education institution
would be to take advantage of the students' willingness to participate and interact andpresent to them the reason for the institutional choice for the semi-presential teachingmodality, as well as its format. “In order to have a good perception of their students,
institutions must seek this co-creation” (Damacena & Nascimento, 2016, p. 16), forthe students, just being able to pay for the service is not enough to qualify.

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Adoption of the hybrid modality for better student qualification
The students believe that it is positive for the university to adopt the semi-presential
model for their training. For them, the way that makes the most sense to obtain theservice of their qualification is that which allows them to develop, do together andparticipate autonomously in their process. of learning.
It was possible to understand the student's posture in the same way as Svensson andWood (2007), that is, an entity actively involved in the teaching-learning process.
Students 8 and 13 explained that
I believe that participating in the production of something would be much more
effective for teaching and learning (Student 8).
What makes the most sense is what I choose, what I want to do (...). Do not
impose certain mandatory subjects on me, but what I am interested inparticipating in (Student 13).
It was analyzed that the reasons given by the students about being positive for theirtraining in the university to offer semi-presential subjects, was the discipline. Students
are inclined to understand that when attending semi-presential courses, the university
allows them to develop academic discipline, that is, to create a study routine thatgenerates autonomy. Student 15’s assessment:
I think that today it is very common for people to work and study, so I think thatfor people who have less time to attend classes and things like that, it is very
positive and I also think it is positive in terms of creating discipline, because it
forces you to study every week, which forces you to do things in the correct
sequence (Student 15).
For students, it is positive for the university to adopt the semi-presential teachingmodality because it consolidates the paradigm shift, after all, they realize that it is achange of mindset, that is, a different way of learning and teaching, even though thisis a challenge that some they accept to face more naturally, while others have moreresistance.
Students 8 and 11 exemplify this:when you work with semi-presential subjects (...) It seems that the student has tostudy more alone, than with a teacher: a consequence. But, the student, he has toget used to new technologies because they are a reality, he tends to bring this idea
into his daily life (Student 8).
I think it is positive because it covers a larger audience of students. Sometimes,
people have problems with face-to-face, but in semi-face, he gets a bigger scam,but then, on the other hand, there are people who hate semi-face and get beaten
up because of him, right. I think there are a couple of sides there, but in my case,for myself, it was quite interesting, a different way of learning, and of teachingalso from the teachers that I thought were really cool (Student 11).

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Students believe that a higher education institution where it is possible to co-create
their qualification is one that prepares students for the reality of the market, bringing
the challenges of the profession to academic activities, through classes that connect
theory and practice in a way innovative, to consolidate knowledge. It is analyzed that
Bailey's study (2000) on involving students and teachers to promote learning in apractical way, is in line with these analyzes. Student 5 consider that
it would be a course that takes the needs of the market, not only now, more by
projection, see what is a trend, State of the Art to be able to contemplate in thecourse, to train excellent professionals for the market (Student 5).
The results of this research point to an affinity with the studies by Svensson andWood (2007), that is, the relationship between student and university begins, with theprinciple that it is the provider of knowledge and the student, its receiver. However, attimes, the roles are interchangeable between the two entities in this relationship andthis means that the student is not seen as a mere consumer, but as a co-creator.
It seems that higher education institutions need to review their roles, defining a more
effective research, teaching and learning path. Among its objectives, the one thatindicates that it is the most imperative for institutions is to seek to build a curriculumthat favors the development of students' skills to manage personal, social andprofessional challenges in the face of technological configurations in thecontemporary world. These analyzes are in line with the study by Chemi and Krogh(2017), whose focus is co-creation in higher education, involving students andteachers, in order to enable them to face the challenges of the future, in a creative andcollaborative way.
Conclusion
This study analyzed how the student feels when studying in the hybrid modality that
requires a more active participation in his learning process and examining if it ispositive for his formation the university to adopt this modality in its course. A
qualitative research was carried out, through in-depth interviews, in a large Brazilian
higher education institution. After the treatment of the data by the content analysis
method, it was possible to reveal the co-creation of value in the student's view,advancing in relation to the already known advantages and presenting new
perceptions on this theme.
Students feel that studying in the hybrid modality, assuming that the essential
characteristics of the co-creation of value - interaction and active participation - areaspects that should be inherent to the process of their learning. New insights into theco-creation of value are presented in the context of hybrid higher education, that is,interaction and active participation are genuine attributes to the profile of theuniversity student, enabling him to perceive himself contributing to the constructionof a legacy with teachers and the institution you chose to qualify for.
The second finding of this research, about the co-creation of value in higher educationthat adopts the hybrid teaching modality, confirms the model of the Co-Creator
Student of Halbesleben and Wheeler (2009) where the student co-produces the resultsof his training. It proved that the role of protagonist, with more responsibility in his

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learning process can and must be played by the student, in order to promote hispartnership with the teacher, because his participation can be more active in thismodality.
The third contribution that this study presents is particular and concerns the adoptionof the hybrid modality for the better qualification of the student. For students,
studying in this modality gives them the opportunity to develop the discipline, while
encouraging autonomy, thanks to the study routine that this type of semi-presential
education requires for pre-class activities. Students confirm that by adopting the semipresential teaching modality, the university is on a path of paradigm shift, that is, it
proposes a different way of learning and teaching that can enable them for the current
and technological reality. Although they assume that this is a major challenge thatsome students have more resistance to face.
The contribution of this study is to demonstrate that in order to consolidate the cocreation of value in the context of hybrid higher education, the involvement of allentities in the teaching-learning process is necessary. The focus of higher education
institutions should be on developing a curriculum where students and teachers
participate creatively and collaboratively in the learning process. From this study, afuture research agenda can emerge on the co-creation of value in hybrid higher
education in the view of students from public higher education institutions, in order tobroaden the discussion on this current theme, especially considering the significant
changes that the pandemic of COVID 19 imposed on the main entities involved in theteaching-learning process.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher
Education Personnel - Brazil (CAPES) - [Finance Code 001]; Pontificia Catholic
University of Minas Gerais - Brazil [FIP 2020/24835-1S].

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References
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de EAD na carga horária de cursos presenciais da UFPE [Blended Learning: a study
about the insertion of up to 20% of DE in the credit hours of in-person courses of
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influência nas atitudes de estudantes de Administração de uma instituição de ensino
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Practice in Value Creation. Journal of Interactive Marketing. 18(3), 5-14.
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Contact email: waldianefialho@hotmail.com

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An Evaluation Model for a Non-Sexist Education: Beyond Performance
Accountability
Andrea Parra, Duoc UC, Chile
Nicole Vallejos, Duoc UC, Chile
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Abstract
This article is about the development of assessment tools concerning to theidentification of gender biases in teachers of a Vocational Education institution in
Chile. Particularly, in the fields of engineering and technology, usually characterizedby having male majority presence. Our aim is to identify, based on a mix method
perspective, the limits and the potentials of current evaluation systems in its goal ofpromoting a friendly culture about gender issues and inclusive education beyond
policies of performance accountability. Based on international experiences review, we
present a heading model in order to identify, within the classroom, practices that
reproduce gender bias and stereotypes in a context strongly permeated by a masculine
culture. From a performative approach, we empathize in the responsibility of teachersand policy makers in the development of inclusive educative contexts beyond formal
curricula, assuming the relevance of institutions self-regulation. Nonetheless, we
argue that evaluation systems should be thought as a meaningful formative processthat has to give account of the local context and particularities of their members rather
than high-stake accountability usually mediated by sanction, classification and erasureof singularity.
Keywords: Sexist Education, Professional Technical Education, Evaluation Model

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
In the last years Higher Professional Vocational Education (Educación Superior
Técnico Profesional in Spanish) has been gaining more and more relevance due to its
key role in the productive and economic systems. The latter has also bring thenecessity of designing curricula in accordance to the labor field and with thedevelopment of skills for enabling student’s adaptation to a dynamic world. Although,these reasons have not been the only ones that have brought Higher Professional
Vocational Education to the spotlight. Precisely because HPVE is the heir of the old
Schools of Arts and Crafts, institutions designed for training masculine workforce, theHPVE filed has been characterized by having a low female participation. Before alittle more than a century, female participation has increased, however, we still facestrong gender segregation within careers (Sepúlveda, 2017; Sevilla, Sepúlveda,
Valdebenito, 2019).
Duoc UC (Department for workers and peasants development of the PontificalCatholic University of Chile) is one of the most important Vocational Education
institutions in Chile, concentrating two in ten students at the HPVE1 level. In terms of
Duoc UC annual enrolment, 40% is represented by women, but, if we concentrate ourattention in the STEM field, feminine presence is only 14%, numbers that extend to
all over the Vocational Education field.
The presence of women in the industrial areas of the Secondary Technical Education(Educación Media Técnico profesional in Spanish) is nearly 19%, while it increase toan 80% in the fields of Health, Education and Social Work (Mineduc, 2019). In
Higher Education, considering graduate and undergraduate students, women only
represent the 20% of enrolment in Science, Engineering, Construction, andTechnology 2 (SIES, 2019). Only considering female enrolment in universities wehave a more positive number, 28%, but, it decreases to an 11% in HPVE.
Gender gaps in the STEM filed have been recognized worldwide (UNESCO, 2017;
CONICYT: 2017; 2019; and Comunidad Mujer, 2016). Women, usually have lower
rates in math and science test, results that tend to progressively consolidate while they
advance in educative stages (CONICYT, 2017), having as a result the minimal
participation of women in these areas. In fact, women participation in the STEM filed
has been conceptualized by the metaphor of the “leaking pipeline”, in order toemphasize how women presence in these fields tend to decrease while they advancein educative stages and hierarchies.
In this context, the Ministry of Education with the support of the Ministry of Womenand Gender Equality have created the 2018-2022 agenda “quality without biases”, inorder to promote more participation of women in HPVE and, particularly, in
historically masculinized educative areas understood in the STEM field. Likewise, in2019 Ministry of Education provided to the Institutions of Higher Education the1

Formed by Centros de Formación Técnico (CFT), that give technical degrees after two reays of studies andInstitutos Profesionales (IP), that give profesional degrees after four years.
2
Data obtained through SIES 2019 data bases. The Information Service of Higher Education (SIES in Spanish) of
the Ministry of Education emerges from the Law 20.129 in 2006, in order to develop a National Information System
for Higher Education that gives the necessary inputs for an adequate application of policies, public administration andpublic information, which also gives academic, administrative and financial transparency. This is open access dataand can be search by gender and OCDE area. SIES Web address: https://www.mifuturo.cl/sies/.

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commitment to promote gender equality in management positions, being the first step
to foster a more inclusive culture in educational communities that also go along withthe commitment for developing more research in gender issues. Duoc UC ascribed tothis commitment in 2019 and stablished a formal space for developing initiatives that
promote equality and discussion within the institution.
Having this commitment in mind, Duoc UC has created a Gender Equality agenda
composed by different initiatives, among them, a series of diagnostic research on thisissue. These studies have proved that there is not only a problem of genderparticipation and segregation in careers, there is also sexism within the educational
process and the interactions in the classroom. Focus groups with female students haverevealed that some professors expressed their open rejection to female presence inhistorically masculine careers, expressions that, as a result, have driven some female
students to quit their studies. In fact, and although in general women usually havebetter grades and lower drop-out rates, in Duoc UC STEM careers female students
have lower grades and higher drop-out rates than their peers in other fields3, while
male students do not show different trends by subject-field area.
Debates concerning sexism in education are not new, as a matter of fact, 2018 and2019 national protests for a non-sexist education concentrated public opinion,
especially thanks to systematic denunciation at the Higher Education level. Thus,
emerges the necessity of knowing what is going on inside the classroom and in theteaching-learning dynamics as well, because what happens there can have an effect in
the reproduction on sexist patterns affecting personal and professional trajectories offemale students but also of those who do not fit in traditional gender roles. With thispurpose, we have designed, in a participatory way, a model for teacher evaluation
based on a rubric adjusted for HPVE in order to identify sexist practices and dynamics
in the teaching-learning process. This formative model aims to promote genderequality practices and also favor continuous improvement and feedback in the
educational community of Duoc UC.
The article is structured as it follows: (1) main findings concerning sexism in theclassroom interactions and in masculinized contexts; (2) a critic to accountability
systems and new proposals for formative models; (3) methodological considerations;(4) conceptual discussion; (5) findings and the design of an evaluation model forgender biases; (6) recommendations for the Higher Education Institutions and (7)final considerations.

3Internal Document N°21: “The persistence of an historical gap: gender participation in VE STEM fields”.

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Figure 1: evaluation system of gender interactions and dynamics in TVET

Rubric•An evaluation system thattakes responsability foreducation with gender
equity.
•It is not based onclassfication, control orsancation, rather in aformative process•Identifies genderinteractions and dynamics
in STEM classes.
•It gives teachers feedback
en channel an
improvement process.

•It gives orientarions andinputs to the teachers inorder to improve theteaching practice•The institution can design
policies that enable amore equal learning
process.

Scope

Evaluation focusedon information

Source: prepared by the authors

Literature review
Sexism in masculinized contexts
A series of research done at the national level about the inclusion of women to
masculinized fields, in education but also in the job market, have argued that,
although the supposedly openness to women reception and an explicit inclusive
discourse, women continue living segregation and exclusion (Angelcos and Isola,
2017; Sevilla, Sepúlveda, Valdebenito, 2019). The study carried out by Sevilla,
Sepúlveda and Valdebenito (2019) in public schools that offer Secondary Technical
Education, specifically, with students of industrial careers, has shown that althoughfaculty members do not consider necessary to adopt specific measures for women due
to their fast adaptation and efficiency in achieving learning goals, both peers andteachers think that women have a hard time learning specialized contents. By thesame token, women foresee that, in order to achieve their professional goals, they
have to double their efforts in comparison with their male peers. Also, female students
think that they will end doing less valued tasks and the female presence is not
welcomed in this particular labor market.
According to the latter, teacher’s associate qualities such as kindness and sensibility
to women, while men are related to leadership and strength. Likewise, the sexist
naturalization that links strength with men and fine motor skills with women is highly
extended among public schools that offers this education, thus contributing to thesexual division of labor within industrial disciplines (Sevilla, Sepúlveda andValdebenito, 2019). Another interesting point is that while women do not perceive
treatment differences, teachers and male peers recognize that they treat women
differently just for being women, promoting what literature has called “benevolent
sexism” (Glick and Fiske in Sevilla, Sepúlveda and Valdebenito, 2019).
Theses gender biases inside the classroom have been already studied in primaryschools, where research has shown that education plays a key role in the reproductionof gender stereotypes and expectations of behavior, thus the school have been

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conceptualized as an institution that systematically produce and reproduce inequalities
between men and women (Azúa, 2016, Azúa, Saavedra y Lillo, 2019; Araya, 2004;
Colás y Jimenez, 2006; Mizala, Ramírez, Ramírez, 2015; Martínez and Ramírez,2017; Martínez, 2016; Guerrero, Provoste and Valdés, 2006). Particularly, has beenargued that “teachers replicate in the classroom practices that has been historicallyand culturally accepted, maintaining gender stereotypes in the interactions anddiscourses” (SERNAM, 2009: 70).
Thus, teachers could affect student’s own perceptions about their cognitive potential,
also the attitudes and interests towards different knowledge fields as well (Guderson
et al, 2010, 2012). Some of this actions are related to masculinized language4, paying
more attention to male than female students, doing cognitive complex questions andgiving more feedback to men than to women, especially in “masculine” related
subjects: math and science (Guerrero, Provoste y Valdés, 2006; Gray and Leith, 2004;
Espinoza and Taut, 2016; Mizala, Ramírez y Ramírez, 2015).
Angelcos and Isola (2017) in their study about the inclusion of women to the great
copper mining in Chile argue that although strategies and open discourses about
women integration to this historically masculine field, discrimination still last in
everyday practices. Particularly, they have shown how women presence, itself,
becomes a transgression that exceeds hegemonic norms and cultural values where,
paradoxically, traditional gender division of labor has become an anachronism. In thiscontext of social change, these supposedly universal gender norms try to persist
through a violent imposition, that is rather ethical than physical. This ethical violence
that Angelcos e Isola argue about, is exercised over bodily gender expressions, wherefemale mining workers exaggerate their “female” values and attributes (being tidy,
responsible, clean, etc.) as a tactic in order to resist in this field. Thus, although theiracceptance to mining is tacit, women are not accepted in their difference.
From accountability to accompaniment
Accountability has traveled from the detailed exam of finances to almost every aspectof professional life (Stobart, 2010). In this way, evaluations are becoming morecommon in our daily practice, being deployed in multiple spaces and aspects.
Accountability policies in the educational field rely on the responsibility ofeducational establishments to ensure the quality of the services offered, thus the factof how someone can be hold accountable, responsibilities and roles, are assign
depending on the educational model (Falabella y de la Vega, 2016). Currently, there
are at least three models of accountability: state accountability, performanceaccountability and professional accountability. Nonetheless, performanceaccountability has been one of the most extended approaches.
Performance accountability system considers that evaluations are a powerful tool for
educational reform and, when evaluation is associated with high stake consequences,
it motivates improvement incentives (Stobart, 2010). Following this logic, when
4

In Spanish, unlike English, there are so many words that are not gender neutral. For example, “todos(for male) and todas (for female) are two not gender neutral forms of naming “everybody”, English
word which, in principle, gender is not pre-assumed. Usually, teachers use the word “todos” instead of“todos y todas” while they are speaking to “everybody”.

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educational quality is agreed and standardized, goals can be measured, compared andhierarchized; accountability process are public and linked to incentives and sanctions(Falabella y de la Vega, 2016; Flórez, 2019).
However, different studies have shown that this logic of control, examination andclassification has negative consequences, having results that can contradict the
expected results even. In fact, although performance accountability systems areencouraged by the ideals of equality and justice, it has been argued that they reinforce
social and educational segregation, because individuals stand points, cultural andeconomic contexts, and its own particularities are not considered (Ball, 2013;
Sánchez-Amaya, 2013; Flórez, 2019; Stobart 2010; Fallabella y de la Vega, 2013;
Comisión SIMCE 2014; 2015).
Authors like Sánchez-Amaya (2013) has argued that evaluations deploy distinction
mechanisms such as: normal and abnormal, accepted and rejected, good and bad,among other hierarchical dichotomies. Thus, examination practices produce
knowledge feed power relations. The application of these systems conditionindividual’s possibilities, in other words, individuals are produce and administeredthrough this very evaluation mechanism. Consequently, performance accountability
system could have a performative effect by producing docile individuals without
subjectivity (Ball, 2015; Sánchez-Amaya, 2013).
It has been argued that performance accountability systems have generated andimpoverishment of pedagogical practice, this came be seen in the curricula reduction,
training focus on standardized tests, behavior is adjusted in order to achieveevaluation indicators, de-professionalization of teachers by becoming standards
implementers rather than conscious of their own pedagogical practices, affecting theirreflection and innovation process, their self-stem and motivation with their job(Falabella y de la Vega, 2016; Stobart, 2010; Flórez, 2019; Comisión SIMCE 2014;2015).
If we are in the presence of a system that controls and sanctions not achieving
standards and that also generates the lack of mechanisms and formal strategies forsupporting evaluated individuals and guiding them to an improvement process(Stobart, 2016; Comisión SIMCE 2014, 2015), why do we continue using it?
In the last years have appear interesting models that have tried to promote an
accountability system beyond the logic of control and sanction, following a pathoriented towards improvement and the formative process (Hevia and Vergara-Lope,
2016; Flórez, 2019; Falabella y de la Vega, 2016; Preal, 2009; Holz, 2019).
These approaches left behind the fantasy of absolute control in order to promote selfgovernment and self-determination to the very individuals involved in theseaccountability practices (Stobart, 2019). They support the participation of individuals
in the creation, design of instruments and evaluation criteria, enabling the emergenceof an internal culture of improvement where individuals are more conscious of theseprocess, stablishing their own goals and expected values.
These models are not based in sanction, rather in recording experiences in order togive feedback to pedagogical practice, designing strategies and improvement plans

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result, instead, each dimension gives information that can be understood as
independent evidence that, as a whole, enable decision making (Holz, 2019).
Additionally, these systems consider diverse factors that influence in the expected
results: students and teachers social and economic reality, the environment in which
the learning process is developed: infrastructure, resources, pedagogical practices,
didactical materials, among others. Thus, it is emphasized that the expected results
depend on interrelations that include the environment, the educational community,
directors and families as well.
Methodological considerations
This study is framed within the gender and education studies. On the one hand,research in education has been considered as the study of methods, proceedings andtechniques that gives us access to knowledge, comprehension and explanation of
educative phenomena, an also contributes to face social problems (Hernández, 1995).
On the other, gender perspective research in education has been a significant
contribution to the education field by identification of structures and social practices
that reproduce gender inequalities.
Thus, gender studies related to education have contributed to unveil the mechanisms
through which educational institutions have part in discriminating women and nonhegemonic subjects, and also how the educational system, in its different levels,
reproduce prejudices and gender stereotypes. In this way, our evaluation model for anon-sexist education is attuned to this discussion.
Following Gabriela Delgado Ballestero (2010), we agree with the idea that research isdone from an epistemic position, where knowledge emerges from a localized position
and from the particularity of the subjective knower. From this standing point,
knowledges is always partial, it comes from a particular subject and body, that,
depending of the historical process, cultural and semiotic, and the ways gender, classand ethnicity are contingently mixed, enable the configuration of a subject that sees,
think and act in a particular way. This is why for us it is important to design anevaluation model sensible to the particularities and situational experiences of theactors that form the educational community.
As Blázquez has argued (2010), due to gender research in education seeks to unveil
the experience of the oppressed and the excluded, it is necessary to always adopt an
multi-methodical perspective, where the incorporation and confluence of different
techniques and methods enable a better approach to the observed and offers a broader,
but also, rich and complex view of the studied phenomena.
For the design of the rubric we followed the use of multiple technics: (1) we
conducted four focus groups to Douc UC students (see appendix 1), (2) ten classroom
observations and (3) 6 in-depth interviews to chiefs of the Technical Pedagogical Unit(see appendix 2).

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Figure 2: design and validation of the classroom observation rubric

Source: prepared by the authors

Discussion
In the last years, gender indicators have been incorporated to the national educational
evaluation systems thanks to the State commitment on this issue (MINEDUC, 2016;
CONICYT, 2019), however, these changes have been done following theaccountability approach. In this way, when gender issues acquire relevance inevaluative practices they do it in the lens of high stake accountability systems, taking
the risk that this challenge for a more equitable culture becomes and indicator devoidof discussions and reflections as Falabella and de la Vega (2013) have shown.
In the Chilean higher education system teachers evaluations are not applied at thecentral-level, thus, due to external evaluations does not exist, it is left to every
institution criteria to have or nor an evaluation system. In the case of Duoc UC, thisinstitution has applied an accompaniment program for teachers in order to support
their pedagogical needs, in that way, standardizing and formalizing these measures in
the Teachers Accompaniment Program. This program, which is part of a greatermodel for generating indicators called TDI (teachers development index), follows,
however, the high stake logic.
At the time gender equality has become and institutional goal, it has been noted a gap
between everyday practices and institutional strategies (Angelcos and Isola, 2017;
Sevilla, Sepúlveda y Valdebenito, 2019), where open discourses for inclusion aretranslated to the logic of individual responsibility masking the very obstacles thatshould be attended. In doing so, it is not recognized that gender equality is the resultof an institutional effort for creating a culture and strategies on this issue. According
to the latter, we consider that evaluative practices should contribute to gender equality
from a formative point of view. Understanding that this paradigm favors reaching
minimal agreements that enable a constructive management (Stobart, 2019), it isworth noting that this is key for an issue in which inequalities and discriminations has
been invisibilized. For this, instruments and criteria have to be agreed, promoting andrecognizing the educational community commitment. Although, PedagogicalTechnical Unit offers a key institutional infrastructure for implementing evaluation

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models for a more equal education in gender terms, it has to abandon the individual
accountability logic.
Due to the sexism and androcentrism in Chilean educational system (Azúa, 2016;
Sevilla, Sepúlveda y Valdebenito, 2019), we have to pay especial attention to
discourses and practices, because even in the most progressive approaches, genderequality tend to be exemplified and legitimized by the exaltation of “female”
attributes such as tidiness and planning, values that may enable women to perform as
equal as men or even better. Thus, it is observed that the conflict over the attributes
associated to each sex, through which gender is socially constructed, is part of acomplex and sometimes contradictory gear, hidden under more or less conventional
attributes that reinforce discourses that create new forms of gender biases.
Findings
Designing the rubric
A series of interviews, focus groups and studies on gender and education has shown
us the challenges and difficulties for designing a rubric through which observe not
only teacher’s actions and discourses but classroom interactions. Although diagnosis
and feedback will be oriented to teachers, observations will give account of actions
and interactions between them and the students.
Based on what has been argued about the binary and exclusionary structure of genderbiases and stereotypes, we designed a rubric with a scale that could enable us todistinguish between those actions and discourses that promote the naturalization ofgender binary categories from those who recognize diversity. In the “positive” side,
there are attitudes associated with the promotion equal participation among gender,
while in the “negative” are those that superimpose one gender (usually male) over theothers. Likewise, teachers could have an active role developing attitudes that either
promote or difficult gender equality in the classroom (this is what we call “active
behavior), or s/he could be a witness allowing conducts to happen without getting
involved (this is what we call “passive behavior”).
Figure 3: Rubric structure of classroom observation

Source: prepared by the authors

Sexist practices and discourses inside the classroom
The qualitative data gathered helped us to identify practices and discourses that
contribute to perpetuate sexist practices in the VE field, identifying two dimensions:(1) strategies and dynamics about gender inclusion and (2) expressions andpreconceptions on gender in classroom interactions.

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Figure 4: rubric’s dimensions for classroom observations

Inclusive
genderpractices

Genderexpressionsininteractions

What do we observe in theclassroom?
Source: prepared by the authors

First Dimension: gender inclusion practices inside the classroom
Unequal participation in class is one the themes that emerge from the interviews andfocus groups with female students. The latter is clearer in the careers where malestudents outnumbers females, generating, in women, shyness and reducing theirinterest of participating in class. However, in careers where female students aremajority, men do not feel these pressure at all.
Among the behaviors associated with to a low class participation we identified thosedeveloped by students and teachers. Low class participation by gender can be
explained either by personal interests or teacher’s willingness to foster one group over
the other. However, Pedagogical Technical Unit chiefs recognize that the type andnumber of questions or the promotion of participation in activities play a key role,these are resources that teachers can use precisely to promote a more inclusive
environment for equal participation.
A second level of analysis in this dimension is related with the identification ofpractices of gender inclusion and the definition of attitudes and behaviors from a
passive/active scheme. We presented to the interviewees situations based on genderbiases literature, which some of these were corroborated by them and also providing
new examples. Thus, we can appreciate the existence of four practices that occur inthe classroom that can positively or negatively affect inclusion and integration of
students. These are:

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Figure 5: strategies and dynamics for gender inclusion

Source: prepared by the authors

We have defined this four dimensions as:• Promotion of analytic and reflexive questions: this practice is about thegeneration of complex questions that foster analytical reflection without producing
differences on gender identities and sexual orientations.
• Feedback and reinforcement: this practice is associated with promotion of ideas,
giving support and favoring student’s participation. It is observed teacher’s
disposition to recognize student’s goals and giving positive feedback with clear
recommendations to advance and resolve problems. Is it worth noting that these
didactic strategies do not generate differences among gender identities and sexual
orientation.
• Stimulation of participation: this practice is directly involved with the promotion
to participate in class activities, to share opinions and being part of conversations. For
this, it is important that participation stimulation is done without denying orinvisibilizing students for their gender identity or sexual orientations.
• Ways of naming students: this practice refers to the equitable use of language. It
is preferred to use neutral words for referring gender and individual persons, it ispromoted to use names without highlighting gender differences under a binary
paradigm, for example: ladies and gentlemen or the use of diminutives and kind
expressions such as: dear, love, etc.
Expressions in interactions
The biological and binary matrix that support prejudices about each gender seems tobe the cornerstone for practices that reproduce gender biases. In what follows, we will
explain the dimensions that, inside the classroom, will help us to grasp this prejudicesthrough expressions and interactions.

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Figure 6: Dimensión expresiones y precon

cepciones en las interacciones de género
Source: prepared by the authors

This four dimensions have defined as:•
Expressions about gender roles: how expressions promote individual’s
potentials to perform a variety of roles without being restricted by its gender or sexual
orientation.
•
Expressions about psychological and physical features of gender: expressions
that give account of physical and psychological diversity regardless of gender
identities or sexual orientations, avoiding making associations based on traditional
gender attributes.
•
Comments about corporal expression, sexual orientation and gender diversity:
examples and comments are used to promote corporal expressions, are respectful ofsexual orientations and gender diversity, highlighting the existence ofemotional/sexual relations.
•
Access to key tools and equipment for the learning process: tools andequipment are distributed without doing differences based on student’s gender, sexual
orientation and identity.
Recommendations
The design of a rubric for the identification of gender biases adjusted to the HPVE
speaks of the necessity for developing a culture committed to gender inclusive andequitable education, one that promotes the involvement of the all the educational
community, favoring the common will to improve and advance towards a more justsociety that guarantees equal opportunities for everyone.
That said, the implementation of Duoc UC “gender equality agenda” is an opportunity
for creating initiatives that foster advancing in terms of parity, thus it is recommended
that educational institutions lead this kind of efforts. Likewise, it is also important that
institutions should find the way to implement evaluation models in formal instances,like, in our case, Teachers Accompaniment Program for example.
Apart from that, it is necessary to collect preliminary data that could be used as adiagnosis of institutional situation about the reproduction of gender biases inclassrooms. The latter is also key for designing plans for working this biases in aconstructive way, focusing the efforts in the capabilities that are expected to install

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rather than individual accountability. For our case, we have considered the following
steps in order to implement this model:
Figure 7: Steps for formalizing the preliminary evaluation process

Source: prepared by the authors

Conclusion
Throughout this study, we have noted the interest of different actors in participating ininitiatives that promote more gender equality. We have shown that the necessity of
improving classroom dynamics require a less conservative institutional agenda inorder to design strategies to face this problem. The latter has to be done from both, acurricular but also an extracurricular perspective, incorporating a gender perspectivethat breaks from heteronormativity and androcentrism in different subjects. It ishighlighted the necessity of actualizing pedagogical materials, figures and task
resolving activities, in order to include gender diversity and experience. Furthermore,
understanding that the toughest barriers for gender diversity appear after student’s
graduation, it is important that institutions develop strategies with the labor market toguarantee an adequate insertion.
We highlight the analytical exercise that emerged from the data gathering in thedesign of a contextualized rubric, because it helped Pedagogical support unite to
identify gender inequalities in the learning process and reflect upon their own
practices, considering the role they have in the transformation of educative spaces anddeveloping more inclusive tactics.
Finally, it is important to include all educational community in the development of astrong outreach, along with a permanent accompaniment process that gives teachers
the tools they need. Another key aspect to have in mind is that observations andevaluations do not have to be associated with a sort of teacher’s performance index,
rather it has to be a feedback process from a formative standpoint.

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Attitude to Authority and Digital Competences of Bulgarian Primary Teachers
Nadezhda Kaloyanova, University Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov, Bulgaria
The Barcelona Conference on Education 2020
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Abstract
The thesis of this study is based on the assumption that the authority of the teacher
manifests as a specific status or professional role and should be internalized in his
overall professional profile. The teacher's role-playing authority is defined “a formal
authority” and is strongly influenced by the requirements of the educational
environment and the specific professional competences of the teacher. The attitude of
the teachers towards they own authority, which implements the set of professionalroles and competences, is a prerequisite for the formation and manifestation of anadequate professional model, which directly influences the quality and culture of theeducational environment. To explaining of the nature of the social manifestation andexperience of the teacher's own authority in terms of his status-role model are usedthe concept of liberalism - conservatism. The research is performed with two scales,
which are separately developed sets of statements. The first scale – „Attitude to
Authority” – is an adapted and integrative version of the established standardized„Attitude to Authority Scale“ (Ray, 1971) and GAIAS (Rigby, 1982). The second
scale, “Digital Competence”, was developed as an integrative scale to explore
teachers' attitudes towards digitalization of education and to study specific skills
involved in digital competence. Research involve 202 Bulgarian Primary teachers.
The results are analysed in three stages: Evaluation of the Scales internal consistency;
Factor Analyse and Correlation Analyses. The general conclusion of the study calls
into question the effective internalization of this key competence in the professionalmodel of respondents.
Keywords: Attitude to Authority, Digital Competences, Primary Teachers,
Professional Roles

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
According to social psychology, attitude is "an organized predisposition to respond ina favorable or unfavorable direction to a specific class of social objects" (Dzhonev,
1996; p. 213). It is "an unconscious form of stimulation of the psycho-behavioral
activity of an individual, acquired in individual experience and is provoked by acertain type of situations” (Minchev, 2006; p. 101).
Attitudes combined the social and the psychological in the person and therefor they
directly influence behavior as a functional component of the Self and an integral partof the individual's value system (Dzhonev, 1996; Minchev, 2006; Andreeva, 1983).
Тhe importance of the study of attitudes is considered by a number of authors in thefollowing main aspects:•
to be determining the specific feelings, appraisals and tendencies to approach /avoid of the person to focal objects (Scott, 1954).
•
to understand and predict trends in the development of significant social trends
such as prejudice, environmental protection, educational attainment, and public
understanding of science (Allport, 1954; H Tajfel, 1981; Dunlap & Jones, 2002;
Pampaka and all, 2012; Sturgis and all, 2010).
•
to understand the mechanisms of formation and changing public opinion, andmore generally their impact on important social problems, such as civic participationand participation in the cultural sphere of society as a whole (M. Elliott, Voas, &Park, 2014; Dinas, 2013; Zaller, 1987, 1992; Green, Preston, & Janmaat, 2006;
Paterson, 2008).
Authority is also a complex concept studied both as a group (social) and personal(individual) phenomenon, strongly dependent on social relations and the situation inwhich it exists.
On personal level authority refers to the position of the person in a social system. It isa special type of social attitude that is based on a particular position (Piryov, 1975).
This kind of authority is defined as „individual authority“ (Ivanov, 1995; Piryov,
1975; Ivanov, 1985; Shibutany, 1969, Reber, 1985, Fotev, 1987).
In a social system the authority legitimizes the right to power but does not identify
with it. It is not a form of control but its basis, which is expressed as a right toexercise power (Ivanov, 1995). The authority is also named „social prestige and is thecriterion for leadership effectiveness.
Authorities are individuals of high social prestige who are important to other people.
Such personalities are attributed to qualities - knowledge, skills, abilities that are
valuable to others. They have high expectations and are valued, respected, respected
and recognized in smaller, larger communities or in society. (Ivanov, 1995).
The individual authority manifests in two basic forms: formal and psychologicalauthority.
Some authors (J. Adams, A. Romney, G. Homans) consider informal authority is
primary, able to explain the formal authority. Other are of the opinion that these are

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two independently existing constructs related to different social roles that integrate
into the individual, forming its whole authority (Ivanov, 1995).
There is a thesis according to which formal authority is provided by the authority ofthe professional position. It forms around 65% impact on subordinates. Moralauthority depends mainly on the moral qualities of the leader, and functional isdetermined by the professional competence business qualities and attitude to work of
the leader, Moral and functional authority account for 45% of total authority of theperson (Kriviradeva, 2018).
Аccording to Max Weber, the social expression of authority is highly dependent on
the current social paradigm. In defining the types of authority, Weber attributes therational-legal authority to increasingly bureaucratic and rationalized societies. This
thesis, which is still valid today, constitutes formal authority as a meaningfulindividual construct, manifested at three levels: the social, the community and theintra-group. (Georgiev, 91, p. 102-103).
Тhe attitude towards authority is defined as “support or opposition for thesubordination of individual freedom and autonomy to the collective and its authority”(Duckitt & Bizumic, 2013, p. 843)
In this study, the term Authority is used in the context of education as a social system.
This concept explains the social influence of educational institutions and teachers as
their representatives, as well as the corresponding power, which legitimizes thisinfluence. In the same context, attitudes toward authority represent attitudes toward
power as positive or negative evaluations of control and sanctions applied by theeducation system and its institutions to its members.
The need to study attitudes to authority in education, and in particular to teachers, isemphasized by authors who traditionally еxplore attitudes toward authority, because
recognizing the authority of educational institutions would greatly support theunderstanding of attitudes toward institutional authority in general. Rigby at all (1984,1987), Dornbusch & Scott (1975), Dunbar & Taylor (1982), Gumbert at all (1981).
Competence is defined as a proven ability to use knowledge, skills and personalities /social skills in work or study situations, in professional and personal development(www. Eur-lex.europa.eu). Lifelong learning itself is understood as a continuous
process of mastering competencies, which are conditionally divided into two groups:
professional and key. Professional competence is a set of knowledge, skills andabilities that workers and scientists / researchers in a given field must possess(www.eur-lex.europa.eu).
With the Recommendation of the Council of the European Union of 22 May 2018,
these key competencies have been updated, but without changing their number andunderstanding of them. There is a stronger emphasis on basic skills such as literacy inreading, foreign languages and basic digital skills and on transferable skills, with a
special focus on entrepreneurship education, focusing on improving mathematics
skills, natural sciences, technology and engineering (STEM), emphasizes theimportance of education for democratic citizenship and values and expands the scope

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digitalcompetencies,
including(https://www.mon.bg/bg/100770).

programming

andcybersecurity

Theoretical background of the study
The main thesis of this study is that the authority of the teacher manifests as a specificstatus or professional role and should be internalized in his overall professional
profile (Kaloyanova and Ivanova, 2010). The teacher's role-playing authority isviewed as “… the inherent essence of his legitimate authority, recognition of his rightto make responsible decisions in situations of co-activity that are meaningful to thestudent” (Ivanov, 1995, p. 99). Тhis type of authority is inherent “a formal authority”
and is strongly influenced by the requirements of the educational environment (social
aspect) and the specific professional competences of the teacher (individual aspect).
The attitude of the teachers towards they own authority, which implements the set ofprofessional roles and competences, is a prerequisite for the formation andmanifestation of an adequate professional model, which directly influences the quality
and culture of the educational environment.
The present study uses the concept of liberalism - conservatism, which is one of theleading modern approaches to classifying people's social beliefs (Jost, Federico, &Napier, 2009). This concept explains the nature of the social manifestation andexperience of the teacher's own authority from the point of view of his status-role
model, namely - as aimed at freedom, shortening the distance and flexibility (liberalauthority) or as centered in tradition, power and directive interactions (conservative
authority).
In this study attitudes towards teachers own authority are examined in relation to oneof the teacher's current professional competencies - the digital competence. The
digital competence of the teacher is being considered as “… the ability to use ICTwith a good pedagogical-didactic ICT understanding and to be aware of how thismight impact the learning strategies and educational formation of pupils” (Krumsvik,
2007, p. 68).
The digital competence of teachers also includes knowledge and attitudes to using
ICT, various softwares and on-line based information, with a critical attitude towards
the quality of resources and information, as well as the activation of problem-solving
skills ( Ilomäki et al., 2011; Krumsvik, 2011, 2012; Käck & Männikkö Barbutiu,
2012).
There are five basic skills considered as the basic structural components of digitalcompetence: Information and data literacy, Communication and collaboration, Digitalcontent creation, Safety and Problem Solving (Carretero, St. et al., p.11).
In this research, digital competence is studied not only in aspect of the five including
basic skills, but also with regard to teachers' attitudes towards digitalization of
education, since competence itself requires as a prerequisite the existence of such an
attitude, on the one hand, and - attitudes toward professional role-playing authority
are influenced precisely by specific attitudes toward particular competencies.
The theoretical model of the study is shown on Figure 1.

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Figure 1: The theoretical model of the study
Methods
The study is performed with two scales, which are separately developed sets ofstatements. The first scale – „Attitude to Authority“ is an adapted and integrative
version of the established standardized „Attutude to Authority Scale“ (Ray, 1971) and
GAIAS (Rigby, 1982).
The scale contains three sub scales. The sum of all items in the scale totals 24.
•
Sub-Scale 1: “Leadership: executive vs. decision maker” includes items 1 to 8•
Sub-Scale 2: “Institutional Authority: delegation vs. force” includes items 9 to
16•
Sub-Scale 3: “Pedagogical Interaction: Freedom vs. Regulation” includes
items 17 to 24
Each one Sub-Scale contains 8 items.
All items are scored from 4 to 1, as 4 (Strongly agree), 3 (Agree), 4 (Disagree), 1(Strongly disagree). The sum of the scores is interpreted by 3 scales of referent values
according to 3 different type of Authority – Liberal, Medium and Conservative(Tabl.1).
Type of
Authority
LiberalMediumConservative

Table 1. Referent Values of Authority Type
Leadership
Institutional Pedagogical
Authority
Interaction
32 – 24
32 – 24
32 – 24
23 – 15
23 – 15
23 – 15
14 – 8 and up 14 – 8 and up 14 – 8 and up

Total
96 – 72
71 – 49
48 – 24 and up

The second scale, “Digital Competence”, is developed as a integrative scale toexplore teachers' attitudes towards digitalization of education and to study specificskills involved in digital competence, combined into three criteria: Information anddata literacy and Digital content creation; Communication and collaboration; Safety
and Problem Solving.

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The scale contains 4 subscales:•
Sub-scale 1: Attitudes towards digitalization of education - includes items 1 to
10•
Sub-Scale 2: Collecting and Arranging Information and Creating Educational
Content (Information and Content) - includes items 11 to 20•
Sub-Scale 3: Communicating with Students, Colleagues and Parents(Communication) - includes items 21 to 25•
Sub-Scale 4: Safety and Problem Solving in an Educational Context (Safety
and Problem Solving) - includes items 26 to 30
Аnalogically, the items are scored from 4 to 1, as 4 (Strongly agree), 3 (Agree), 4(Disagree), 1 (Strongly disagree). The sum of the scores is interpreted by 4 scales ofreferent values according to 3 different levels– High, Average and Low (Tabl.2).
Table 2. Referent Values of Digital Competence
Level
Attitude toInformation Communication Security
Total
Digitalization and Content
andProblemSolvingHigh
40 – 30
40 – 30
20 – 15
20 – 15120 – 90
Average 29 – 19
29 – 19
14 – 11
14 – 1189 – 59Low
20 – 10 and 20 – 10 and
10 – 5 and up
10 – 5 and 60 – 50upupup
and upResearch involve 202 primary teachers from Bulgarian educational system. 193
teachers are female, and 9 – mail. 1,5% are under 25 age; 7,9% - between 26-30 age;
36,6% - between 31-45 age; 30,7% - between 46-55 age and 23,3% - over 55 age.
68,8% work in schools in big towns, 24,3% - in small towns and 6,9% - in villages.
Most of the respondents (51,5%) works in primary schools. 40,6% works insecondary schools and 7,9% of respondets works in Elementary schools.
The results are analysed in three stages:•
Evaluation of the Scales internal consistency by the Cronbach Alpha
Consistency Assessment procedure (Cronbach, 1988);•
Factor Analyse – KMO and Bartlett's Test and extraction of the main Factors;•
Correlation Analyses with Pearson linear correlation coefficient (r).
Results and Discussion
1.1.

Evaluation of the Scales internal consistency

Internal consistency of items is evaluated by the Cronbach Alpha Consistency
Assessment procedure. Alpha Cronbach’s Values are shown below (Cronbach, 1988):
0,9 – 1,0
Excellent
0,8 – 0,9
Very good0,7 – 0,8Good for practical purposes
0,6 – 0,7
Modest0,6 and down
Miserable
The results for both scales and their subscales are shown in a Table 3.

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Table 3. Cronbach’s Alpha of Scales and their Sub-scales
ScalesSub ScalesКαAttitude to,114
Leadership
8
Authority
Institutional Authority
8,264
Pedagogical Interaction
8,499
Digital Competence Attitude to Digitalization
10,847
Information and Content
10,677
Communication
5,625
Security and Problem Solving
5
,427

corr
,016

α

,043
,111
,357
,174
,250
,130

,555

,824

In the Digital Competence scale the Cronbach's coefficient is very good - 0.824. It
ranges from unacceptable to high values, with the lowest for the Security and Problem
Solving subscale - 0.427 and the highest for the Digitalization Attitudes subscale 0.847. It can be concluded that the surveyed teachers have a high degree of coherenceof their opinions, especially regarding attitudes towards digitalization. In this subscale
the most heavily embedded item is I feel completely confident and trained to integrate
information and communication technologies into the educational environment –0,565, and the least implied is I have developed and maintain my own teaching blog /site – 0,323. The average score is 86,65, which value falls within the average levels
according to Table 1.
All items in the Communicaton subscale are low implied. In this scale, in fact, themost heavily embedded item I participate in experience sharing groups withcolleagues who use digital technology in their daily work has a coefficient of only
0,500, and the least implied - The digital students register is a convenient and integral
part of my work and greatly facilitates parental feedback – 0,236.
The average score on individual scales is respectively:•
Attitude to Digitalization – 30,84 (High);•
Information and Content – 26,72 (Average);•
Communication – 13,33 (Average);•
Security and Problem Solving – 15,76 (High).
It can be seen that the respondents demonstrate relatively moderate to high attitudes
towards the digitalization of education. Although the Security and Problem Solving
scale has high average levels, it is the scale with the lowest Cronbach's coefficient,and the least implied item belongs to this scale. This is the item In the internet
communication I demand the established “netiquette” should be observed – 0,386
The Attitudes to Authority scale has a low consistency, which is on the border of theacceptable values of Cronbach's alpha – 0,555 (Table 3). The internal coherence of
the individual subscales is unacceptable. The lowest levels of consistency are on the
Leadership scale, although the least implied item The teacher should not obey anorder if it is obviously morally wrong has a coefficient 0,360, and all 8 items show
moderate adequacy on the scale - in the range from 0,528 for the item A Teacher
should always change his actions to ensure agreement and harmony in the
educational environment to 0,627 for the item The teacher should not demand silence

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and obedience in the classroom. The average score of the respondents on the scale
Attitudes towards authority is 64.22, which shows moderate attitudes.
The average score on individual scales is respectively:•
Leadership – 22,71 (Medium);•
Institutional Authority – 20,59 (Medium);•
Pedagogical Interaction – 20,92 (Medium).
Therefore, in the view of primary teachers, authority is legitimized on the border
between liberalism and conservatism, but teachers have an unstable and often
contradictory opinion about the individual manifestations of authority. They havevery high attitudes towards digitalization, but in certain aspects of this competence,
their positions are unstable. It should be emphasized that the position of primaryteachers on the means and effectiveness of communication in the digital environment,
as well as on electronic resources for pedagogical interaction, remains particularly
unclear.
1.2.

Factor Analyses – extraction of the main Factors

Тhe Cronbach's alpha reliability assesment showed instability across the two
subscales of the both scales The factor analysis aims to isolate only the main factors
and show the subscales belonging to them. The second objective is that the bothscales align their indicators to allow correlation analysis.
The latent structure of the Attitude to Authority scale indicates refraction in thesecond component (Figure 2). This means that it is acceptable to accept a twocomponent factor matrix. After statistical processing of the scale data by rotation of
the component matrix, two main factors were formed (Table 4). The first factor
covers the Leadership subscale and the Institutional authority subscale, and thesecond includes the Pedagogical interaction subscale. The overall reliability of thescale increased – the Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin coefficient was 0.586 (Table 5). Hisinterpretation is similar to Cronbach's alpha. In this case, the authority scale isconsidered.

Figure 2. Latent structure of Attitude to Authority Scale

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Table 4. Rotated Component Matrixa of Attitude to Authority Scale
Rotated Component Matrixa
Component
12
scaleleleader,986
scaleinst,780
scaleped,848
Extraction Method: Principal
Component Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax with
Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 3
iterations.
Table 5. KMO and Bartlett's Test (Attitude to educational Authority Scale)
KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling
Adequacy.
Bartlett's Test of
Approx. Chi-Square
Sphericity
df
Sig.

,586
40,5633,000

The latent structure of the Digital Competence scale is uniform, without refractions(Figure 2). Two factors were also formed in this scale. In this case, however, one of
the scales - Information and Content, can not be categorically related to any of thefactors, although it is more heavily embedded in the first factor. It can be assumed
that the first factor combines the subscales Attitudes towards digitalization,
Information and content and communication, the second includes the subscale
Information and content and Security and problem solving (Table 6).

Figure 2: Latent structure of Digital Competence Scale

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Table 6. Rotated Component Matrixa of Digital Competence Scale
Rotated Component
Matrixa
Component
12
scaled1,854
scaled2,634,511
scaled3,735
scaled4,938
Extraction Method: Principal
Component Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax
with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 3
iterations.
Table 7. KMO and Bartlett's Test (Digital Competence Scale)
KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling
Adequacy.
Bartlett's Test of
Approx. Chi-Square
Sphericity
df
Sig.

,605
109,562
6,000

Factor analysis allows to continue with correlation analysis under the following
conditions:•
The Attitudes towards authority scale has two clearly identified factors, while
the Digital Competence scale has a uniform latent structure;•
The subscales of the both scales refer to two factors, but in the Digitalcompetence scale they are not clearly differentiated;•
The reliability coefficient of the both scales after the factor analysis isrelatively equivalent and modest.
1.3.

Correlation Analyse

Under the above conditions, correlation analysis is only possible if the both scales arecharacterized by a normal data distribution. The following histograms make it clearthat the distribution in the both scales is relatively uniform and allows correlation to
be derived using the Pearce coefficient (Figure 3).

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Figure 3: Data distribution in the main Scales
Table 8: Correlations between Attitude to Authority Scale and Digital Competence
Scale
Correlations
scaleauthority scaledigitalscaleauthority Pearson
Correlation

1

Sig. (2-tailed),255**,000

N
202
scaledigital Pearson,255**
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
,000
N
202
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

202
1

202

In this case, a correlation between the two scales could be clearly identified, ie. todetermine the relationship between the attitudes towards authority and the digitalcompetence of the respondents. The table shows that there is a positive correlation,
though a weak correlation – 0.255. This suggests that the high values of digitalcompetence will be mainly related to liberal authority.
Where such correlation exists, it should be determined how it is characterized For thispurpose, the average values of respondents who showed high digital competence(between 90 and 120) will be compared with the average values of the same
respondents on the Аttitudes to Аuthority Scale (Table. 1, 2).
The average on the Digital Competence Scale is high with 87 respondents. Theiraverage score is 96,72, ie. just above the lower limits of the high reference values.
The average score of the same respondents on the Attitude to Authority Scale is 65,33- a stable moderate value.
The result shows that digital competence is well formed (x = 86,65 при n=220; x =96,72 при n=87), while attitudes toward authority are almost relevant to values
throughout the research sample (x = 64,21 при n=220; x = 65,33 при n=87).

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After establishing the normality of distribution in the digital competence subscales, acorrelation analysis was made between the different subscales in the both major
scales.
Table 9. Correlations between Subscales in both Scales
Correlations
scalelelea scalein scalepederstdscaled1 scaled2 scaled3 scaled4
scalelelea Pearson
derCorrelation

1 ,233** ,189**

,158*

-,026

,132

-,052

,001

,025

,714

,062

,462

202
202
202
202
**
**
1 ,354,287,182**

202
,167*

202
,146*

Sig. (2-tailed)N
scaleinst Pearson
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)N
scaleped Pearson
Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)N

202,233**

,001
202
202
,189** ,354**
,007
202

,000
202

,007

,000
202
1

,000
202
,113

,010
202
,155*

,017
202
,010

,038
202
,143*

202

,108
202

,028
202

,887
202

,042
202

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
Correlation analysis shows the following correlations between the subscales in theboth scales:•
Sub-scale Leadership correlates weakly with a sub-scale 1: attitudes towards
digitalisation in education
The average value of the result in the sub-scale leadership is 22.71, ie. inmoderate values of the authority type.
The average value of the result in the sub-scale attitudes towards digitalization
is 30.84, ie. in the lower limit of the high reference values.
Given the established ratios, the conclusion can be that the attitudes towards
digitalization are combined with a moderate manifestation of authoritative leadership.
•
Sub-scale Institutional authority correlates with all subscales of the Digital
Competence scale, the most pronounced being the correlation with Sub-scale 1:
Attitudes towards digitalization in education
The average value of the result in the sub-scale Institutional authority is 20.59,
ie. in moderate values of the authority type.
The average value of the result in the sub-scale Attitudes towards
digitalization is 30.84, ie. in the lower limit of the high reference values.
The average value of the result in the sub-scale Information and Content is
26.72, ie. in with an average reference value.
The average value of the result in the sub-scale Communication is 13.33, ie. inwith an average reference value.

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The average value of the result in the sub scale Safety and Problem Solving is15.75, ie. in the lower limit of the high reference values.
It can be generalized that maintaining a moderate institutional authority among
teachers is significantly related to all aspects of their digital competence.
•Sub-scale Pedagogical interaction correlates weakly with two subscales:
Subscale 2: Information and Content and Sub-scale 4: Safety and Problem Solving
The average value of the result in the sub-scale Pedagogical interaction is20.92, ie. in moderate values of the authority type.
The average value of the result in the sub-scale Information and Content is
26.72, ie. in with an average reference value.
The average value of the result in the sub-scale Safety and Problem Solving is15.75, ie. in the lower limit of the high reference values.
The characteristics of the highlighted ratio show that the manifestations of moderateauthority in the pedagogical interaction of primary teachers are mainly related tomoderate competencies for working with electronic information sources anddevelopment of electronic educational resources, as well as a high degree of security
and problem solving skills.
Conclusion
Authority for primary teachers is legitimized on the border between liberalism andconservatism. The individual manifestations of the authority of teachers are unstableand often contradictory. They are combined with high attitudes towards digitalization,
but with an unclear position on the means and effectiveness of communication in adigital environment, as well as on electronic resources for pedagogical interaction.
For this reason, the manifestations of moderate authority in the pedagogicalinteraction of primary teachers are mainly related to moderate competencies forworking with electronic information sources and development of electronic
educational resources, as well as with a high degree of security and problem-solving
skills.
As expected, the uniform latent structure of the Digital Competence scale determined
the large number of correlations with one of the subscales of the Attitudes to
Authority scale. In this case, they refer to the Institutional Authority subscale.
Therefore, the nature of instituinal authority as moderate between the liberalism andconservatism, are highly dependent on the digital competence of the teacher andespecially on the attitudes towards digitalization and problem-solving skills.
Оnce again the tendency is ascertainedthat the teachers demonstrate a high degree ofdigital competence, which is combined with moderate, still tending (in some essential
aspects) to conservative authority, calls into question the effective internalization ofthis key competence in the professional model of respondents.
The findings from previous studies confirm that teachers understand and are
motivated to expand their competencies, but still experience a lack of personal

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resources to delegate rights to other educational subjects and to abandon traditional
instructional-directive approaches to interacting in the educational environment.
Acknowledgment
This paper is an output of the science project “Digital Competencies and Media
Education at preschool and primary school age” – DN 05/8 12/14/2016

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Research of Primary School Students’ Knowledge and Attitude to Internet
Tolerance
Rumyana Papancheva, University Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov, Bulgaria
Maria Dishkova, University Prof. Dr. Asen Zlatarov, Bulgaria
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Abstract
Internet tolerance is a very relevant problem in the context of the 21st century, when agreater percentage of communication between people in most countries, includingchildren, occurs precisely in the virtual space. The survey included 230 girls and boys
from primary school. A brief literature preview and the results, taken by the research
provides an excellent opportunity some conclusions to be made, which will approve
the work of primary teacher in conversations with students about their tolerant
behavior. It is a fact, that there are parents and teachers with no idea what really
happens in their children’s and student’s virtual life. It is their responsibility to keep
children in safe and to control their behavior in order to learn social norms forrespectful attitude towards others. Internet allows more free behavior because of theanonymity and the sense of impunity, as well as the fact that someone remains hidden
behind the monitor and do not have to confront one’s opponent directly. This creates
the illusion of courage and often leads to reckless actions that can hurt the otherperson. All these facts have provoked the research that will be commented in current
article.
Keywords: Tolerance, Children in Primary School, Communication, Internet

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Introduction
Student’s online communication is a huge challenge for pedagogical subjects, because
they have to protect children and in the same time to learn them behave properly on
the Internet. The number of users all over the word suppose that anything could
happen in the virtual space, anything could be said and anything could be done.
Children should be well trained that online communication has some rules that mustbe followed. Fast connection, social media, the possibility to communicate with many
people is a great advantage and it should be used in the most appropriate way – notfor bullying others. Some researchers are indicative that parents influence their childbehavior online. Such problems as absence of family support, presence of family
isolation, prevalence of failure in job and education, the feeling of worthlessness, may
affect the way that child behave in Internet. Something more, these problems could be
both the consequences and the causes of addictive use of the Internet (Tajalli,
Zarnaghash, 2017, p. 163). Family conversation about different topics, including useof digital technologies, have positive influence regarding children’s mental health andemotional intelligence, self-efficacy and academic results (Tajalli, Latifian, 2008;
Tajalli, Ardalan, 2010). Family patterns are pointed as basic not only about time,spent in front of the screen, but about students’ communicative e-tolerance as well.
Internet is a place where millions of people meet each other. They have the possibility
to stay anonymous, to express their point of view, even to be someone else. There
isn’t a paper with rules about e-behavior. Many sites have some kind of protection,
but in most cases it is possible for everyone to say anything on Internet. “The humanmind is innately different and diverse. If one looks carefully one cannot find twonations, two families, two men, or even two brothers or two sisters who think alike
and behave alike. The universe is thus naturally inclined to be diverse” (Antun, 2013).
That’s why nowadays we speak about tolerance between people. Someone is notforced to accept other’s opinion, but he/she should know that there are different pointsof view.
There are some benefits (getting information, increase cognitive function, building
relation with others) and some risks (tendency of psychological disorders, less ofInternet literacy, decrease visual function) of Internet use for children (Rachmayani,
2017, p. 142-143). Other benefits are: study help, social interaction, student
community (Heinze, Procter, 2006, p. 246). Social media can be used very easily tointeract both with friends and with others online and helps to improve social
development of students and their relationships with peers (Subrahmanyam,
Greenfield, Kraut, & Gross, 2001). Parents also understand that Internet can support
learning of their children and in the same time to affect them negatively, especially ifthey are not able to control their children’s internet use and other online content(Zotova, Zinchenko, 2014). Not only at home, but also at school students’ Internet use
is not limited. Therefore, their internet literacy education should be improved, so toprotect their online activity (Ey & cupit, 2011; Yan, 2009) and e-behavior.
Online communication is different from “face to face” dialogue. Some authors look
into friendship development through the internet. A comparison between online andoffline companionship shows that both have different contexts. It turns out that online
communication may have a different implication, as well as used communication
methods are different and have its time and place to be implemented (Hamburger,
Kingsbury, Schneider, 2012). There are different reasons for people to prefer online

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communication: convenience, to seek new friendship, to seek potential partners, tokeep in touch with friends and families, faster response rate, reliability, cheap, current
trend, accessibility and others (Nordin, 2014). “Use of the Internet for interpersonalcommunication is not the same as offline face-to-face communication. The absence ofnonverbal cues, lack of warmth, and less demand for engagement in Internet
communication lead to impersonality, shallow interactions, and difficulty in building
social support” (Lee, Leung, Lo, Xiong, Wu, 2011, p. 386-387). In spite of this,results of other researches indicated that young adults spend more timecommunicating online and building online relationships with friends and unknown
individuals, and this time is more than middle and late age adults (Thayer, Ray, 2006,
p. 438).
In pedagogical practice, it is supposed that when students are required more
frequently to cooperate online, they actually share a common problem. In result, onsome level create their own “problem solving” community (Heinze, Procter, 2006, p.
236). Why online tolerance is so necessary? “Social media platforms have enabled
people from anywhere in the world to express their views and discuss any issue ofinterest in online discussions/debates” (Mukherjee, Venkataraman, Liu, Meraz, 2013,
p. 1680). Tolerance is very important concept in the field of communications. It isconnected with critical thinking and exchange of rational arguments on an issue
among participants that seek to achieve consensus, solution, understanding(Habermas, 1984). It is important for children in primary school to know how to be
tolerant with others in Internet, because they spent much time there. They behave
there without limits and restriction. Online communication shouldn’t be an
uncontrolled area where everyone could insult, threaten or torture others and this is astatement that students should know from an earlier age.
Methodology and Results
In current research were included 230 students from primary school. . The research is
conducted through a questionnaire, which includes 20 questions and explores
student’s opinion in several areas: what do they really know about the concept oftolerance; are they tolerant online; are other children show tolerance in the virtual
space; basic tools of communication on the Internet (emoticons, abbreviations, upperand lower case letters usage in text, i.e.) and their meaning; what is their reaction
when they become offended or an object of a rude notion; when it's easier for them tocommunicate with their peers – online or in face-to-face conversation.
Most of children (62,4%) know the meaning of tolerance from their parents, and 31%- from their teachers (Figure 1). This shows that the basic pedagogical subjects(parents and teachers) are positive about their responsibilities to discuss suchimportant themes with children as communicative tolerance and interaction withothers. Very few children have pointed that they are informed about tolerance byInternet (4,8%) and TV (1,9%), which means that regarding these basic topics media
don’t have much influence.

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Figure 1. Sources of information about toleranceChildren, included in the research, show tolerance on the Internet (Figure 2):•
only if I know the person I'm talking to – 24%;•
only if he/she is my friend – 21,8%;•
always with no matter who is opposite – 18,2%;•
if he/she is tolerant of me too – 15,1%;•
it depends on the situation and on the person – 11,1%;•
sometimes – 8,9%;•
never – 0,4%;•
I am not tolerant with other people – 0,4%.
Most of the students set conditions for tolerance – they are tolerant to their friends, topeople that they know, in suitable situation, probably when they are in good mood.

Figure 2. Conditions for showing tolerance on the Internet
Using words that insult others is the most indicative sign for not being tolerant toother people on the Internet (Figure 3). 17, 9% of questioned students think so. To
criticize someone’s opinion is another intolerant action – 13,2% of children havepointed that. It is very interesting that today’s youth feels bad when they are notaccepted or are excluded from the social group – as per 10,2% this is intolerant tothem. 6,8% are afraid of not gathering enough “likes” for their post. Obviously,

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priorities are quite different in 21st century. These results shows that every student has
different idea for Internet communication tolerance.

Figure 3. Intolerant behaviors on the Internet
Students in primary school are well informed about most used abbreviations in social
media as OMG, LOL, CUL, NP, NB (Figure 4 & Figure 5). 83,4% of respondents
know and use OMG and 73,9% - LOL. In the questionnaire were included otherabbreviations as well, but they have no exact analogue in English, so to be translated
and explained.

Figure 4. Knowing the meaning of online texting abbreviations

Figure 5. The most popular online texting abbreviations among respondents

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Results on Figure 6 shows that children mostly use emoticons with positive message
to the others (big smile, tears of joy, smile, tongue-out, love, wink and so on).
Relatively much less is using of emoticons with negative meaning (angry and cry).

Figure 6. Most used emoticons

Figure 7. Most used emoticons in return
Except on sending more emoticons with a well-meaning message than negative,
current research shows that students usually receive positive emoticons in return(Figure 7). This is indicative for presence of positive communication between student
in primary school with no aggression and lack of tolerance. It is the same with pupils’favorite emoticons (Figure 8 & Figure 9).

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Figure 8. Pupil’s favorite emoticons
Definitely, positive emoticons are used more often than negative, which is a hopefulfact for future online communication between students in primary school.

Figure 9. Pupil’s favorite emoticons
Most of the pupils questioned (70,9%) are sure that they have never been insulted in
the virtual space (Figure 10). Despite this satisfactory result, there are 27,4% thatclaim the opposite. It is a serious percent that should draw attention to the theme. Thisis a value that can be easily increased, that’s why pedagogical subjects must be
activated to prevent and to overcome this problem. Otherwise it could affectdestructively the whole child’s growth, provoking aggression, depression, alienation.

Figure 10. Have respondents been insulted on the Internet?

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When have been insulted, respondents react in different ways, as follows indescending order (Figure 11):•
I share with a friend or an adult – 60,5%.
•
I'm looking for a way to get it back – 21,1%.
•
I go offline – 20,4%.
•
I explain that this is not correct – 19,7%.
•
I immediately insult him/her too – 17%;•
I'm looking for new friends – 13,6%.
•
I don't know what to do – 9,5%;•
I am getting sad – 9,5%.
•
It happens so often that I don't pay attention at all – 8,2%.
•
I get scared – 6,8%.
•
I am crying – 5,4%.
•Everyone does it – 4,8%.
•
I’m threatening the abuser back – 0,7%.
It is quite sure that pupils are theoretically prepared how to deal with such an
unpleasant situation, namely to seek the assistance of an adult – parent, teacher oranother trusted person. More anxious are other results that show willing for
immediate revenge, fear of being bullied, resignation to aggression, which is clearly
everywhere.

Figure 11. Actions in return of an insult received
Very few children point that there is possibility to have insulted someone on theInternet (Figure 12). 87% are positive that such a thing has never happened, but
10,8% confess that they were in the role of an e-abuser sometimes.

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Figure 12. Have respondents insulted someone on the Internet?
When respondents behave bad with someone online they react in some of the ways,
listed below (Figure 13):•
I’m looking for a way to apologize – 47,1%.
•
I’m feeling uncomfortable – 23,1%.
•
I get an insult back – 23,1%.
•
I’m losing a friend – 20,2%.
•
Nothing is happening – 18,3%.
•
I don’t pay attention – 14,4%.
•This is normal – 11,5%.
•
I feel good – 11,5%.
•
Everything is allowed on the Internet – 10,6%.
Most of the pupils feel bad and look for a way to fix the problem, especially if it
affects a friend. Although there are opinions shared that are quite disturbing as“nothing is happening”, “I don’t pay attention”, “this is normal”, “I feel good” and“everything is allowed online”. This is a sign for low tolerant culture and lack of skills
for positive communications with others.

Figure 13. Actions when someone insults others
It is noteworthy that children studied don’t live with illusion that Internet is a safe
place. They know that bad things could happen there. And here is there opinion about
the reasons which provoke that (Figure 14):•
Nobody knows you – 45,9%.
•
No one is afraid of the opinion of others – 30,1%.

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•
•

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More opportunities to express personal opinion – 30,1%.
Nobody sees you – 27,3%.
People don’t know each other – 12,6%.
Because people are sometimes very bad, rude – 6,6%.

Figure 14. Reasons for Internet not to be a safe place for children
Sending messages at any time is a kind of e-violence. That’s why pupils have beenasked if they pay attention about hours, in which they send messages online. 57,8% of
the respondents answer positively, but 23,4% give negative answers with the
explanation that no one of their peers complies with the time (Figure 15).

Figure 15. Showing tolerance about messages sending time
The older the child grows, the less the influence of his parents and teachers becomesat the expense of the influence of his peers. This is also evident in the answers to thelast question from the survey, which is who the child’s preferred people for are
sharing personal information (Figure 16). Most of the children have marked “myfriends” – 78,5%. Only 10% prefer to share their opinion on the Internet and 9,6% - insocial groups. Apparently “face to face” communication is the preferred one fortrusted connection with other people.

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Figure 16. People that pupils share their opinion with
Conclusions
Online communication has different aspects that are object of scientific interest andresearch. Online communicative tolerance is a personal characteristic that could be
educated from an earlier age. Current research shows quite positive results of pupils’
intentions to behave appropriate in the virtual space. Most of the respondents know
well what is expected from them and they can be a corrective for others’ behavior.
There are, however, some students that share a different point of view, as per which
non-tolerance is usual for e-communication. This is because of different factors:
guarantee of anonymity and impunity, variety of expression tools, instant response,
space free of adults, lack of control and others. There is no doubt that parents andteachers are responsible for pupils’ social skills, including Internet communication
tolerance.
Some of the children studied demonstrate selective tolerance – their behavior depends
on the people standing on the opposite. They are tolerant to their friends, but could bemuch rude to strangers. This is a sign for communicative immaturity that also should
be developed and turned into acceptable style of communication with others.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Bulgarian National Science Fund for financial
support for this article within the project DN05/8 entitled “Digital Competencies andMedia Education at Pre-school and Primary School Age”.

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References
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Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action: Reason and rationalizationof society. (T. McCarthy, Trans. Vol. 1). Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Hamburger, Y., Kingsbury, M., & Schneider, B. H. (2013). Friendship: An old
concept with a new meaning? Computers in Human Behavior, volume 29, part 1, pp.
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Communication: A Quick Look Into The Preference in The Bruneian Community.
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Versus Face-to-face Interaction in Quality of Life. Social Indicators Research,
volume 100, (3), pp. 375-389, DOI: 10.1007/s11205-010-9618-3.
Mukherjee, A., Venkataraman, V., Liu, B. & Meraz, Sh. (2013) Public Dialogue:
Analysis of Tolerance in Online Discussions. Proceedings of the 51st Annual Meetingof the Association for Computational Linguistics, pages 1680–1690, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Rachmayani, D. (2017). Internet for Children: a Review Study. Advances in Social
Science, Education and Humanities Research (ASSEHR), volume 58, 3rdInternational Conference on Early Childhood Education (ICECE-16), pp. 141-146.
Subrahmanyam, K., Greenfield, P., Kraut, R., & Gross, E. (2001). The impact ofcomputer usage on children's and adolescent development. Applied Developmental
Psychology, volume 22, pp. 7-30.
Tajalli, F., Ardalan. E. (2010). Relation of Family Communication Patterns with Selfefficiency and Academic Adjustment. Journal of Psychology, volume 14 (1), pp. 6278.
Tajalli, F., & Latifian. M. (2008). The effect of family communication patterns on
mental health with mediation of emotional intelligence. Journal of Family Research,
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Tajalli, F. & Zarnaghash, M. (2017). Research Paper: Effect of Family
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Thayer, St. E. & S. Ray (2006). Online Communication Preferences across Age,
Gender, and Duration of Internet Use. Cyber psychology & behavior, Volume 9,
Number 4, pp. 432-441.
Yan, Z. (2009). Limited knowledge and limited resources: Children's and adolescents'
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Contact email: Papancheva@dgklaz.net

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How Can Educators Make Online Work Well?
Communicating Through Graphic Design: Relevance, Focus, Reflection
Cavell Ord-Shrimpton, Arden University, United Kingdom
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Abstract
This paper connects best practices observed and developed through experiential
learning in online forums, structured as open reflective spaces, with structured feed
forwards. We are all online, constantly communicating, exchanging, learning,teaching, developing and creating. In such a vast space we often lose sight of theimportance of the space itself. Almost every day we incur a vast number of digitallearning experiences, that we have to face head on, often without a clear guide on how
to find our way through the measureless steps. Creative thinking and reflecting
continuously on our own practice is vital in understanding how to best cater for suchdiversity. The aim of this study is to observe best practice in online teaching andlearning, drawn from a ten-year online practice and the observation of 32 online
modules. Student Learning & Learner Diversity is at the core of teaching in an online
space and structured praxis is essential in order to encourage, assist and maintainengagement across tasks. Design seizes “difference” as an opportunity to be
developed and enhanced, a space to finetune and embrace flaws and limitations,
supporting and encouraging a multitude of different perspectives. When supported
correctly the collective strength of the online space, along with the materials andreflections of the cohort body, work together symbiotically as constantly evolving
innovative spaces.
Keywords: Pedagogy, Communication, Graphic Design, Reflection, Diversity,
Distance Learning, Coaching, Online Learning, Reflective Practice, Praxis,
Educators, Online, University, Cultural Differences, Achievement, Motivation

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Introduction
In 2020 the outbreak of Covid pushed Universities into new territory, communicatingand exchanging ideas and theories at a distance. This is not wholly a new practicethere are several institutions that have been delivering distance learning programmes
online for some time. To make online work well, it is important to recognise
flexibility and accessibility as the core drivers of change to design learning materials
and methods of teaching and learning that remove barriers, moving education into the
future.
Higher Education Institutes (HEI’s) have been faced with dramatic change to thedesign of teaching and learning materials, a change that was an inevitable progression
for campus-based practitioners teaching in a digital world. Sped up by Covid-19 theconsequence of this new direction in teaching and learning has presented many
practitioners with an unprecedented level of problems.
With the 2020 Covid-restrictions the significance of ‘place’ has been put into question
and the functional relevance of online learning pushed to the fore, exchanging theconventional space for the unconventional space and the importance of design is now
in focus. Professor of Higher Education at the University of Oxford, Simon
Marginson stated, students generally report that university is much more than justtuition—place is also really important. Another prevalent fear amongst practitioners
is, how can we protect more people from the impact of full- or part-automation ofroles, and prepare them to take advantages of the changes coming from the fourthindustrial revolution, working alongside machines and AI?’ (Design Council, 2020).
In order to progress through the digital revolution, we need to embrace and not fear
new ways of teaching, learning and working and receive new digital channels ofcommunication, with an open and balanced perspective.

Figure 1. The communication process (Dunn, Goodnight, 2014).
Decoding is the process of interpreting or attaching meaning to another person’s
message. Communication often stops because people decode messages differently

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based on their frame of reference. Because of diverse attitudes, knowledge, and pastexperiences, receivers often interpret messages differently from the way they wereintended by the senders. (Dunn, Goodnight, 2014).
Margaret Youngblood is a San Francisco graphic designer, vice president and creative
director at Banana Republic ‘You cannot problem solve unless you understand andapproach problems from a holistic standpoint: economically, socially and culturally.’(Holland, 2020).
A key focus of communicating online is the ability to recognise and embracedifference, a particular human skill unique within each of us. However, it is also
important to pay attention to the difference between what ‘difference’ and ‘diversity’mean individually. Difference is a comparator of non-similar things and diversity is arange of different things.
“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, andcelebrate those differences.” ― Audre Lorde, Our Dead Behind Us: Poems
Page states in order ‘to realise the benefits of diversity, we need logic and theory to
identify the types of diversity that improve outcomes and to understand the conditions
under which they do so. And then we need practice. The heart of Graphic Design anddesign-focused disciplines embraces diversity and uses a practice of theory andpractice-based problem solving to arrive at the best solutions. According to the
Design Council, 2020, design skills will be necessary skills in every sector of industry
in the world ‘43% of people working across the economy using these skills are in jobs
that generate innovation, creative thinking and problem-solving’.
In the 21st Century transferable skills are essential and developing networking skills,
maintaining collaborative relationships with people, and making decisions as a teamare considered essential skills to be successful in the new era (Collins and Halverson
2009; Reigeluth 1999; Partnership for 21st Century Skills 2011). This suggests thatevery subject can benefit from the structured holistic practices used in design, where
diversity is celebrated as innovation and a source for change.
One of the important factors in distance learning is recognising how diversity effects
the shared space, the consumption of knowledge and how diversity and difference inlearning style needs should be considered when creating materials at any level ofengagement. It is only through encountering cultures and belief systems unlike ourown that we learn anything about the flaws and limitations inherent in our own
perspectives, (IAFOR, 2020)
To answer the question, how can educators make online work well, the focus of thispaper is on the distance learning delivery of graphic design. Through building,developing, authoring, leading and teaching online courses the author’s personal
practice has highlighted a number of key points, and allowed key insights foundworking over 10 years in online educational practice, observing and teaching across
32 modules to be shared. New light can be shed on the creative and useful nature of
the online learning space. Creative thinking and reflecting continuously on our own
practice is vital in understanding how to best cater for such diversity. Design seizes“difference” as an opportunity to be developed and enhanced.

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On the subject of transforming education, it’s important to recognize that we areremodelling the delivery of the message. As Marshall McLuhan said, ‘The medium isthe message’ and the greater the medium the bigger the message and the internet is avast data space, with minimal limitations.
Around nine years ago the author was asked to create an online graphics degree forwhich there were very few reference points or similar courses that required the
production of such a vast array of artefacts at a distance. Graphic design requires a lotof studio practice and often relies heavily on the development of a community ofpractice. This is usually achieved within physical communal studio spaces wherestudents can share ideas. After a period of trial and error, successful iterations
produced a working model that created the basis of a working version of the physicalstudio space online. The initial online teaching and learning method was developed
over a duration of five years, 2012- 2016, and is known as the ‘discovery cooperative’ coaching and discovery-learning model. Through ‘discovery co-operative’coaching and a discovery-learning model both tutors and students are empowered to
identify and address problems and developmental issues quicker and thecompetencies of the design course can be achieved faster through improved online
cohesion. (Ord-Shrimpton, 2016). The model released in 2017 included previous
model components in combination with the refined online studio practice forum
model (Ord-Shrimpton, 2019).
The key focus of employing these two models together allows tutors to build on
environments of learning and harness the power of distributed creativity, referring tosituations where collaborating groups of individuals collectively generate a sharedcreative product. The term collaborative emergence refers to these group processes(Sawyer, 2003a), collaborative emergence is known as 4 points: the activity, momentto-moment contingency, the interactional effect and the process is collaborative.
(Sawyer, Dezutter, 2009).
Closing the teaching and learning loop with a final stage of further structured
development is presented in this paper as the C Model which has been reworked andrefined over the duration of the last nine years.
Components of difference in teaching online
The challenge in designing technological systems is reconciling the competing
priorities of technical feasibility, functional usability, what people want technology to
do, and the demands of site-specific use. (AIGA, 2020). As a result of the pandemic
thousands of teachers, lecturers and professors have been thrust into the digital spherewithout understanding the complexities of different technologies, the importance ofdifference in terms of country-specific learning styles and the location specificinteractions and nuance of face-to-face. All of these form a new zone of proximal
development, (Vygotsky,1934); it is now not just knowing what the learner can do,
but also what is the educator able to do?
Key insights found through delivering online educational content have helped answer
the questions, how do we embrace difference and how can we make online work
well?

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Observations from personal practice show:•
The global learner will experience many different learning methods - it isimportant that educators combine learning methods to ensure inclusive engagement
applies balanced cultural homogeneity.
•
Teaching and learning content must incorporate distributed creativity andcollaborative emergence.
•
Discovery co-operative coaching should be employed together with the online
studio practice forum model.
•
The learning content should consider, contain and add notes to the global
learner’s cultural diversity.
In 2020 the concept of ‘difference’ has yet to be integrated into all of our systems andprocesses. In education there are hundreds of differences and it is important for
educators to embrace each of these differences and seize them as opportunities for
positive growth and development. Digital skills and a digital framework should be
encouraged across all levels of learning, even if the core focus is not digital. Tutors
need digital skills, the establishment of a shared understanding, common purpose andgoals (JISC, 2020). From the findings of this practice, the framework should take into
account the following:•
Teaching methods•
Student learning styles•
Cultural styles of learning•
Age in learning•
Level in learning•
Number of years a student has been learning•
Subjects learnt prior to learning new subject•
Work based practice in learning relevance•
Neurodiversity
Using an informed approach to recognise, accept and guide we can create learning
environments that embrace and enhance each difference using a framework ofcontinuous student and educator focused reflection in our digital practice.
Online educators should take time to understand the sensitive learner in two specificways, neurodiversity and digital capabilities, and should be willing to adapt old andnew methods to fit in with new technology rather than simply expecting to transfer all
campus skills directly into the digital arena. Precise observation and consideration of
the above framework elements should be factored in.
How do we embrace difference in a distance learning space?
Diversity refers to the great variety of human characteristics—ways that we aredifferent even as we are all human and share more similarities than differences. These
differences are an essential part of what enriches humanity, and moving beyond “us”
versus “them,” and beyond fear, is crucial to civil society, (University of
Saskatchewan, 2020). There is no prerequisite set of rules that can be applied to any
one distance learning space, as they can vary so immensely. However, applying
specific attributes that can be built on and developed over time are essential todeveloping good distance learning practice. Attributes such as awareness and respect

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ethical viewpoint and developing a line of inquiry into each student’s learning style,help tutors to engage and coach students to assist them to identify their strongest
attributes and areas for development, which is in keeping with Haider’s research,which found knowing students’ learning styles at the beginning of the online forums
enabled a tutor to see when they needed to gently manoeuvre specific students tomove out from their comfortable and secure learning styles to the one which isunfamiliar and uncomfortable (Haider, 2015).
Particular to graphic design is the generation and consumption of images, through thepractice discussed here, observations of cultural identity have a big impact on the
consumption of images. Communication through visualization is at the same time
pictorial and linguistic. It is socially and culturally conditioned, based on familiar
linguistic patterns, as in a ‘pie chart’ metaphor for market shares or a ‘starry night’
metaphor showing data in 3D (Bertschi & Bubenhofer, 2005). In consideration of thisfactor, educators should be mindful of all visual content and adapt and substitutecontent where necessary, to respect cultural diplomacy, for example HSBC created aseries of adverts about local cultures and travel that identified the importance ofrespecting local knowledge, paying attention to the sensitive customs within each
culture.
Each educator should aim to adopt and adapt skills on the fly as new solutions arefound. When team members think differently…their collective performance includes
a diversity bonus, an extra amount. That bonus is a quantifiable, measurable value
add…Diversity bonuses challenge narrow “meritocratic” thinking. Diversity bonuses
mean that the best team will not, as a rule, consist of the best performing individuals.
The best team will include diverse thinkers (Page, 2017). Online teaching requires
international humility and inclusion, where a team of diverse educators meets a
student cohort equally if not more diverse, teaching considerations that incorporate
elements of all student diversity will have the most significant impact on distributed
creativity in online forums. The online forum is an expedient way to connect students
across vast distances and it allows them to share intimate cultural knowledge.
Working and communicating across cultures and disciplines requires more time for agroup to balance and understand each other’s differences. It does not necessarily
come naturally to students to mix in culturally diverse groups, but it is indeed an
important opportunity for students to learn to work together with people notnecessarily acting exactly like them. (Frydenlund, 2017)
According to Page, cognitive diversity differs from identity diversity - differences inrace, gender, age, physical capabilities, and sexual orientation. That said, identity
diversity, along with education and work and life experience, will be a contributor tothose differences. Why is diversity so important? There are many reasons, as the
University of Saskatchewan so eloquently states:§
Experiencing diversity at university prepares students for the diversity they
will encounter the rest of their lives§
Students learn better in a diverse educational setting.
§Attention to diversity leads to a broader range of teaching methods, which
benefits the learning process for all students.
§
Experiencing diversity makes us all better citizens in our democracy.
§
Diversity enhances self-awareness.

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The findings of this practice support the above points, as design engenders a strong
ethical practice and a continuous process of reflection, not only on the individual’s
learning capabilities, development and achievement; but with a strong focus on the
ethics, unconscious bias and diversity involved on each specific project. This ongoingprocess of evolving reflection and awareness can be seen in the way students begin tocomment and reflect on each other’s work over time. The students are developing asustainable, globally tenable, reflective practice. As Nussbaum clearly stated in 1997,
our primary goal should be to produce students who have a Socratic knowledge of
their own ignorance – both of other world cultures and, to a great extent, of our own.
These students, when they hear simplistic platitudes about cultural difference, will not
be inclined to take them at face value; they will question, probe, and inquire. Because
they have a basic awareness of cultural and methodological issues, they will have a
way of pursuing their questions further. They will approach the different with anappropriate humility, but with good intellectual equipment for the further pursuit ofunderstanding. These traits, so important to a citizen today’s interdependent work, arevery unlikely to be developed by personal experience alone.
The quintessential benefit of online learning using online forums where work isshared and discussed, is that social levelling affords every participant an equal chance
to share their voice, ask questions, observe and review content, use forums andassessment work on a level playing field. Through practising online the subtleties ofeach learning style become more apparent and this enables the educator to tailor
learning resources through a solid process of reflection to create an educational
environment that is all encompassing, if the components of difference are embraced.
For example, the sensitive student is able to fully express their work and opinions
online in a way that they may be unable to express in public situations. Anonymity
afforded by the digital space in combination with a well organised forum spaceencourages learners from all backgrounds to share and contribute more extensively tothe collective shared learning experience.
Embracing difference not only in terms of learning background and cultural diversity,
but also individual experience enables educators to make online work well.
Conclusion: Reflective teaching and learning embraces difference
Reflection engenders independent learning, to quote one of Forster’s 4 points on thesubject of independent learning (1972) it includes freedom of choice in determining
those objectives, within the limits of a given project or program and with the aid of afaculty adviser. Learners are now in a global competition for work. Reflective spaces
enable learners to be prepared for industry, to be immersed in an experience thatcaters for and imitates industry and this can be different in different cultures.
A reflective practice should be employed at every stage of the learning process,fostering an open continuous reflective practice helps educators and students to see
and identify flaws and embrace difference. The critical role of tutors is to be directive,
supportive, a resource depending on individual students’ needs and group needs. In anutshell, tutors have to become leaders to shape, influence and support as well as
encourage, enable and empower students to become critically reflective (Haider,2015).

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Real-time spaces can often pose problems for different cultures however, digitalspaces encourage open flexible discussion, and this helps to merge cultural
expectations. The teaching and learning model used in this case harnesses the powerof real-time forum discussion, allowing each student the time to reflect in action andapply active learning through forum interaction. Feedback from a broad demographic
and spectrum of input is essential in the design cycle and the virtual online studioforum provides students with access to a broad array of peer input, (Ord-Shrimpton.
2019). Which is supported by the thinking of Iba and Miyake in 2010, who wrote, inrecent complex society, it is essential to find problems and think of solutions fromvarious points of view with a creative mind. People need to learn ability to practicetheir ideas and create new viewpoints and ways of thinking. It is also necessary toconstruct their own living knowledge based on their situation, not just by memorizing
existing information. Under present circumstances, a few people can realize such acreative way of learning, but others do not seem to know how to do so.
Critical reflection consists of systematic reflection on practice against the backdrop oftheories. In other words, the critical reflective process is all about digging and delving
deeper by reflecting and questioning the questions and refusing to take things for
granted. Also, critical reflections should lead students to become creative in theirapproach to social work. (Haider, 2015). Educators should practice online using a
combination of Donald Schön’s two levels of reflection: (i) reflection- in-action and(ii) reflection-on-action and Terry Borton, Reach, Touch and Teach from Borton’sdevelopment framework, this is because the nuances of face to face andenvironmental teaching are not translatable at a distance, educators have to be moreaware and use reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action to ensure that bothteaching and learning takes place online.
It is advisable students should follow and use Graham Gibbs Reflective learning cycle(1988) and David Kolb’s Experiential learning cycle, reflective observation (1984).
Through practice, testing and observation, the consolidation of the methods above are
combined in the C model, which is displayed in Figure 2. Students are recommended
to use a continuous process of active reflection as soon as they enter the forum,
because if they reflect too far after the date of the task in question they may get
distracted and not achieve the intended outcomes. Students deconstruct the issues
with theories and then reconstruct; this process enables students to become criticallyreflective, (Haider, 2015)

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Fig 2. C Model
Outside of the design cycle used in design lessons a combination of reflection inaction, active learning and experiential learning should be fed into the learning
contents and a final feed forwards model employed to complete the cycle.
The C model was generated from observations of design principles in practice. The
aim of the C model transforms and connects the learner, the learning space, the tasks
and the assessment through reflective feedback and pedagogical feed forwards. The
relevance focus refers to key details in relation to content and tasks, and clearly
defined SMART actions (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely),
updated in process based on student interactions within forum spaces. These actions
encourage students through observation of the tutor commentary and peer-to-peer
interactions to develop their critical analysis skills. In 2014, Al-Mubaid, evidenced
the process of critical thinking is the process that leads to creativity in thinking andcan be viewed as thinking and reasoning at its full strength. Teaching students how tothink deeply while in their online course is one of the goals of this project where themain goal is to reach the highest level of quality thinking.
The first two parts of the C model are further consolidated in a streamlined list of feed
forwards points that are outlined as brief but focussed notes on the assignment
feedback after submission. This model closes the teaching and learning loop with
relevance, focus, reflection and feed forwards, using a simple get things done (GTD)
methodology, (Allen, 2015) that helps to generate positive outcomes andimprovement in subsequent modules. Constructive alignment is a concept in teachingthat aligns the teaching activities within a course with the aims of the course (Biggs &Tang, 2011). This means that all activities should lead to the attainment of the course
objectives, and these course objectives should be highlighted as definitive points in alist in the feedforwards feedback.
The technique to communicating online effectively is to ensure that you consider theteaching and learning experience as a collaborative journey and not a one-to-many
oration experience. The content must be clear, well planned and structured to assist

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the learner to collaborate both independently and in teams, and feel confident in theiractions to help them to move forward outside their comfort zone. Tutors must taketime to be aware of cultural learning styles, expectations and behaviour and help themto shape their thinking and challenge their perceptions. Online spaces are open
reflective spaces, that are continuously evolving and should not be seen with the same
rigidity as physical spaces. When organised well, the digital space itself, (with timely
guidance and orientation) harnesses the potential of the collective strength to embrace
diversity by thinking creatively and spontaneously to produce performance enhanced
results and embrace difference and global diversity.
Having gained deep insight from nine years of online practice it is hoped that the 3teaching and learning models,•Discovery co-operative coaching method•
Online studio practice forum model•
C Modelwill be kept in mind when new educators begin to make their own online materials.

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References
Allen, D., (2015). Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Paperback.
Al-Mubaid, H., (2014). ‘A new method for promoting critical thinking in online
education’, International Journal of Advanced Corporate Learning, 7:4, pp. 3437.
Biggs, J., Tang, C., (2011) Teaching For Quality Learning At University. McGrawHill Education. UK
Borton, T., (1970). Reach, Touch and Teach Paperback. McGraw-Hill Inc. US.
Candy, P., (1991). Self-Direction for Life-Long Learning: A Comprehensive Guide toTheory and Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Craft, A.
Cremin, T. Burnard, P. and Chappell, K. (2007). ‘Teacher Stance in Creative
Learning: a study of progression’ Journal of Thinking Skills and Creativity Vol. 2 (2)136-147.
Davis, M., (2020). AIGA. Trend 1: Complex Problems [online]. Available at:https://www.aiga.org/aiga-design-futures/complex-problems
Design Council., (2020). Paper [online]. Available from:https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/resources/report/download-our-strategy-2020-24[Accessed Oct 2020].
Dunn, D.M., Goodnight, L.J., (2016), Embracing Difference. Routledge.
Frydenlund, K., (2017) ‘How do we prepare and support our international students?’
Tojo, N., Bernadett Kiss, B., (ed) in Diversity in Education Crossing cultural,disciplinary and professional divides Lund University, pp. 103-122.
Gibbs, G., (1988). Learning by Doing, A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods by
Graham Gibbs. UK.
Haider, S. (2015). Critical Reflection in Online Forums: techniques and tips for tutors.
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Holland, D. K., (2020). The mind of AIGA. [online]. Available from:https://www.commarts.com/columns/the-mind-of-the-aiga [Accessed Oct 2020].
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Iba, T., Miyake, T., (2010) Learning Patterns: a pattern language for creative learning
II Proceedings of the 1st Asian Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs
Association for Computing Machinery Article 4, pp. 1-6.

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JISC, 2020. Stage 1: vision and intent. [online]. Available from:https://digitalcapability.jisc.ac.uk/what-is-digital-capability/organisational-digitalcapability/strategic-steps-towards-organisational-digital-capability/stage-one-visionand-intent/ [Accessed Oct 2020].
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Maruyama, G. & Moreno, J.F. (1999). University Faculty Views About the Value ofDiversity on Campus and in the Classroom. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
[online]. Available from:http://web.mit.edu/cortiz/www/Diversity/PDFs/MaruyamaandMoreno2000.pdf[Accessed Oct 2020].
McLuhan, M., Fiore, Q (2008). ‘The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of
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Page, S. E. (2017). The diversity bonus: How great teams pay off in the knowledge
economy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Ord-Shrimpton, Cavell., (2016). Educational themes and best practices: designingonline graphic learning, the subject, the nature of the medium, the method, the space,edulearn16 proceedings, pp. 238-247.
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Sawyer, R. K. (2003a). Group creativity: Music, theater, collaboration.
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Sawyer, R. K., & DeZutter, S. (2009). Distributed creativity: How collective creations
emerge from collaboration. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 3(2),81–92.
Schön, D., (1983, 1987, 1991). The Reflective Practitioner. How Professional Thinkin Action. Ashgate.

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University of Saskatchewan, (2020). 2.2 Embracing Diversity [online]. Available
from: https://openpress.usask.ca/strategiesforacademicsuccess/chapter/2-2-embracingdiversity/ [Accessed Oct 2020].
Vygotsky, L. S. (1934). Thinking and Speech. In R. W. Rieber & A. S. Carton (eds.).,The Collected Works of L. S.
Weinberger, A., Stegmann, K., Fischer, F. And Mandl, H. (2007) ‘Scripting
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Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, US: Springer, pp.191-211.

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Behaviours - Silent Conflicts at High Schoolsin Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Nguyen Thi My Diem, Vietnam national University, Vietnam
The Barcelona Conference on Education BCE2020
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Abstract
In recent years, foreign investment has immigrated into Viet Nam. Particularly big cites
like HCM city. Which has drawn to challenging changes to the national educational
system. These changes focus on both students’ in-class and outside-class knowledge.
This study explores the impact of foreign and traditional cultural values on students’and teachers’ in-high school communications in Ho Chi Minh city Viet Nam. My study
provides some recommendations for teachers and educators to teach their students theappropriate communicative cultural values in the changing social and cultural contexts.
I conducted this study by surveying 1200 high school students and interviewing 60
teachers from 12 high schools in Ho Chi Minh city. The survey highlighted thatpsychological crises and the lack of communicative and problem-solving competence
impacted students’ success in communication. The survey shed light on the impact ofmedia such as newspaper, TV and internet on students communicative performance.
The interviews addressed teachers’ perceptions on the work pressure such as
overloading teaching content, making it hard for them to provide with their students a
perfect education including knowledge and personality. A big gap between what they
have been teaching their students in classes and what students may see in their real-life
contexts influences on students’ awareness of behavioral culture. Imported culturalvalues via the communicative channel results in teacher's concern in their students’awareness . An integrated teaching between schools and family may contribute to abetter outcome in students’ understanding culture and society.
Keywords: Socialised Environment, Culture, Behaviours, High Schools, Ho Chi Minh
City

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
There has been an increasing number of immigrants to Vietnam in the recent years.
According to the statistics of immigration management released by Ministry of Public
Security, there were about 19.369.133 foreigners from more than 100 countries andterritories in the world travelling to Vietnam and 4.283.561 Vietnamese people
travelling overseas in 2019. These resulted in creating many opportunities for
Vietnamese investment, tourism, and cultural and historical branding. However, these
also brought challenging changes for the integration of Vietnamese economic, socialand educational system.
This study explored the impact of traditional and exotic cultural values on high school
teachers’ and students’ behaviors in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It also provides
practical implications for stakeholders including teachers, researchers and managers in
the education field regarding how to appropriately communicate the traditional culturalvalues and accept the external new cultural values into Vietnamese social andintegrative context.
The research employed the sociology survey methodology. Data were collected from asurvey of 1200 students and an interview of 60 teachers of Grade 12 in twelve highschools in Ho Chi Minh City. The study utilized socialization theory for data analysis.
Many researchers argued theoretically different perspectives about the socialization
that,
Fichter, an American sociologist, noted that socialization is the interactive process
between person and person, which resulted in the acceptance of an action modeling andthe adaptation of modeling.
G. Andreeva, a Russian sociologist, pointed out that socialization is the two-facet
process. One facet is that a person accepts social experience by involving the social
environment. Another facet is that the person reproduces proactively by theirrelationship through their involvement in social activities and relationships.
Smelser, another American sociologist, thought that socialization is the process inwhich the person learns the action methods correlative to their system of roles to serve
the implementation of modeling behaviors correlative to these systems of role which
they have to play in their life (Vu Quang Ha and Nguyen Thi Hong Xoan, 2013).
R. Stark argued that socialization is the process in which infants learn to become maturepeople integrated with cultural characteristics and can participate in the social
relationships.
Tony Bilton found that “Thanks to the process of socialization, we can accept thesociocultural backgrounds where we were born, achieved personal social
characteristics, learned how to think and behave appropriately in our society, (Nguyen
Dinh Tan, 2005)”.
In the dictionary of sociology, 2 researchers, G.Endruweit and G.TrommsDoff sharedthat “Socialization is the process which is adaptive and interactive with values,

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standards and modeling behaviors, where in a social member accepts and maintains
their abilities in social activities (Dictionary of Sociology, World Publisher, 2002).
And in the book Theoretical and applied cultural issues (2013), Tran Ngoc Them
introducted a model of the cultural structure including: perceptions, organizations, andbehaviours.
A number of theoretical and empirical studies are devoted to examining the topic on adomestic and foreign scale. Amongst those, researches conducted a large number of
research samples from creditable sources and published in academic journals arereviewed in this paper.
“School violence has been a controvesal topic hared by several scholars. Victims andperpetrators involve students, parents, teachers, and school climate. School violence
normally occurs in two forms namely psychological violence by oral language andphysical violence” Students suffering school violence behaviours are those who havemisperceptions about violence, high-stress level, bad communication skills, difficulties
in relationships with friends, and receive punishment for their mistakes by their parents”(Nguyen Ba Dat, 2014).
While Craig et al.’s research (1998) found “a significant proportion of school-aged
children in Canada as either bullies or victims”, “studies adressed the association
between school climate, including school environment, location, general educational
dis/advantage,educational
systems,andstudent’s
abuse”(Sonia, Alison, Taylor , Malavika and Alison, 2018), (Elizabeth, 2018). “The perpetuate
aggressive behaviors and bullying from parents, teachers and students serves by thelack of positive interactions” (Craig, Peters, and Konarski, 1998); (Abbie and Randi ,2020), “positive psychosocial school climate plays a foundational role in bullying
prevention”, (Sabina and Mark, 2014); Jennifer, Dewey and Timothy, 2012). Also,“healthy learning environments, teachers‘ supports, and greater social belonging might
be protective factors that reduce student’s depression (Maria, Dan and Robert (2007)”.
Besides, school culture has been taken into accounts by scholars. “The primary
influences of school culture on students’ behaviors were found to be peers, teachers,
administrators, and parent”, (Linda, 2010)” “Ron et al. findings (2003) states that“students’ fear of attending school and assessments of school violence are influenced
by different types of school-related variables. Especially, students’ exposure toan unfavorable school culture was associated with low attachment to learning and peer
approval of deviance”. Each of which was “positively associated with disciplinary
problems, conduct disorder, oppositional-defiant disorder, attention-deficit
hyperactivity, and substance use” (David , David and Mark, 2000)”.
The definitions pointed out that socialization is a long-term process (from the periodsof pregnancy to maturation) wherein every person will interact, learn, and accept
values, standards and modeling behaviors from social groups and organizations inwhich they participate as member: family, school and society. Through their
participation, they will self-create personal values, standards and modeling behaviors
which are appropriate to both social groups and organizations which they are members
in and their personal expectations and goals.

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The research adapted this theory to explore the school students’ perceptions, attitudes
and schooling behaviors influenced by socialization environments. The school students
will mainly interact, learn, and accept values, standards and modeling behaviors fromgroups of official socialized environment including their family, teachers and friends
whom they communicate with. In addition, these school students will be influenced by
the groups of unofficial socialized environment including press, television, internet andsocial networks which they interact every day.
Based on these debates, the theoretical underpinnings are illustrated and visualized in
Figure 1.

1. Perceptions of invisible pressures in schooling behaviors
A child has received the nurture and education from their mother since they were in the
periods of pregnancy such as their mother’s eating and resting habits. When they are
newly born, they would receive the best nurture and caring from their parents andgrandparents. Depending on the child’s developmental range of age, each family will
use their own different specific methods to nurture and educate their children how tobehave. Family is at the core of educating their children during these periods. Until thechild’s school age, this child continues to receive additional education from teachersand schools. At this time, there has been a transition between family and teachers andschools. The main role of children education will shift to the teachers’ practices and the

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schools. On average, a child will experience 20 years of schooling from pre-school tohigher education graduation.
Many parents feel worried about not only their children’s learning performance but also
their behavioral manners and communications with friends and teachers. Schoolingbehavior is a bridge connecting the student-student and student-teacher relationships at
the school. If students behave appropriately, they will become easier to network andshare learning exchanges and after school activities with their friends.
However, evidence from the realities showed grey area in the school. These issues
related to the inequity, teachers’ emotional behaviors to students, boycott, bully,
violence, conflicts between parents and teachers regarding education responsibilities
for shaping students’ morality and personality. They were about the conflicts about thetraditional and/or new education methods, which resulted the ineffectiveness of parentstudent-teacher nexus and collaboration. They furthered the teachers’ pressure
regarding heavy workload, salary policies and demotivation in career love, which
resulted that many teachers were not effective in their practices.
Hofstede argued that “Inequity between parent and children is continuous to theinequity between teachers and students elsewhere with large interval of power. By
contrast, teachers behave equally towards students and they also expect to be treatedequally by their students elsewhere with small interval of power. Culture of large
interval of power easily accepts physical punishment at the school, at least for
teenagers, rather than the culture of small interval of power. This kind of punishment
reflects the teacher-student inequity. It is regarded as an abuse of power to children in
the societies of small interval of power and parents can report to the police, (Dr. Dinh
Viet Hoa and Pailema, 2015)”.
Therefore, the research investigated what the invisible pressure at the school whereinteachers and students faced in their schooling behaviors was. The study looked at
Hofstede’s perspectives to seek whether Vietnam was positioned within the group oflarge or small power interval. The findings showed that 72,8% of the students and87,1% of the teachers reported being under pressure at their schools. The invisiblepressures that the teachers and the students suffered were ordered from the mostimportant to the least, as illustrated in Table 1.

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Table 1. Students’ and Teachers’ Invisible Pressure in Schooling Behaviors

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There have been differences in the pressures among groups of teachers. Morespecifically, the group of teachers at the international schools mainly faced thepressures in satisfying their students’ parents and managers regarding the quality ofteaching and communications with students. The group of teachers at the gifted andpractical schools suffered the pressures in their personal teaching capabilities and theirstudents’ learning performance. The group of teachers at the ordinary schools faced thepressures in the education methodologies between parents and schools, heavy workload
and salary.
For students, the pressure in satisfying their parents and teachers with personal learning
performance was the most important to the group of students at the gifted and practicalschools (expectations about outstanding achievements to be offered admission to
university without its entry examination) and the international schools (expectations
about outstanding achievements for overseas higher education). The group of students
at the ordinary schools suffered the pressures in personal learning performance andmorality assessment. There were more male students reporting their pressures in theirpersonal learning performance than female students. More female students reflected
their pressures in communicating with friends, being teased about their body
appearance and family backgrounds compared to the group of male students.
The results indicated that the students, parents, teachers and schools appeared to face
several invisible pressures in their schooling behaviors. These pressures related to thedifferences in education methodologies between parents and schools; policies regarding
work organization, inappropriate and ineffective pay rates; lack of experience andcommunicative skills; and students’ crisis in their puberty. Under Hofstede’s stance andthe current realities, the results further noted that Vietnam was positioned within thegroup of schooling large power interval.
2. The roles and influence of social media on schooling behaviors
According to Networks’ statistics on 21 November 2019, there have been about 64
million Vietnamese people using internet among 97 million of its population, 143,3
million phone users and 58 million social network users on their mobile devices until
2019. On average, Vietnamese people spend approximately 6 hours and 42 minutes on
their daily activities on the internet. Specifically, Vietnamese people spend about 2hours and 32 minutes using social networks, 2 hours and 31 minutes watching live
streams or online videos, and 1 hour and 11 minutes listening to music. YouTube is themost popular social network in Vietnam, ranked as top 5 in the world across countries
whose people watch videos on YouTube, exceeding the countries with advanced
technologies such as Japan, Korean, Taiwan … (Vnnetwork, 2019).
It was noted that internet plays a pivotal and influential influence on Vietnamese people.
In today’s digital area, internet becomes a mediated tool which supports the students
search for learning resources and cultural and historical knowledge online apart fromschool textbooks. It is also a mean of entertainment for the students to listen to music,
watch films, read online comics, play online games, and connect friends, relatives andthe surroundings after their school hours.
However, internet highlights its negative facet. If the students cannot control their time
for internet access, they will be addicted and waste their time. This will adversely

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influence on their concentration on learning. In addition, there is a large amount of
information on the websites and social networks associated with violent and sexycontent and images. If there is no appropriate instruction from the teachers and theparents’ monitoring, the students will easily involve in wrong awareness and may cause
serious behaviors inappropriately.
According to the survey results about violence against children released by UNICEF
on 4 September 2019, one third of the teenagers in 30 countries responded that theyused to be the victims of bullying on the internet. One fifth of the teenagers said thatthey used to quit schooling and be violently bullied on the internet. Twenty one percent
of Vietnamese teenagers reported that they were the victims of bullying on the internet,(Unicef, 2019).
Therefore, this research explored the amount of time for students’ accessing and using
internet content in their free time at home. It gained understanding of the actual
challenges regarding the social media’s roles and influence on the students. This groupof participants currently experiences the psychological crisis in their puberty withtypical characteristics: curiosity, desire for learning, mimicking and expressing self. In
this research’s scope, social media on the internet included websites, social networks:
Facebook; Twitter; online comics, games, music, films, magazines and YouTube
channels.
The survey results revealed that 100% of the students reported having their own mobile
phones and using the internet via their desktops, laptops or smart phones when they
have free time at home. They reflected their usage purposes: contact their friends(22,1%), online group learning (6,0%), receiving homework from their teachers(10,4%) and entertainment activities (61,5%). These entertainment activities included
playing online games, listening to online music, reading online comics and accessing
the social networks. This survey was conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic;
therefore, the response rates of students’ using the internet for online group learningand receiving homework from their teachers were quite low and no students used theinternet for online learning.
The students spent time using the internet in the evening after their homework hours
and on the weekend. They spent from 45 to 90 minutes accessing the internet. There
were differences in the purposes of using the internet between groups of male andfemale students. The group of male students often played online games and accessed
the social networks while that of female students accessed the websites, read online
comics and news on the social networks. More specifically, 70% of the students
reflected that their parents monitored the content and their time for the internet access,and 80% of the participants reported that they did not receive the instruction about using
the internet from their teachers.
Regarding the internet’s negative influence, the survey results indicated that about 58%
of the students regarded using the internet as a decrease in their abilities in personallearning concentration. Sixty eight percent of the students reflected that internet wasessential for their daily accessing the social networks. Seventy two percent of thestudents perceived that online games and social networks wasted their time adversely
influencing their learning, but they could not quit them.

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About 25,8% of the students noticed that they used to be teased about their body
appearance and bullied via the social networks, text messages and emails. Morespecifically, 79,5% of these students kept silent and did not seek the other support,
about 15,3% of them solved the problems in their own ways, and around 5,2% of them
reported to their parents and teachers for further support. There were fewer malestudents reporting being bullied violently than female students. But, the extent ofviolent bully was more serious because of its physical bully. In the meantime, more
female students highlighted that they were bullied mentally through verbal behaviors,
text messages and photos regarding body shaming in comparison to male students. As
a result, how to identify and intervene in to protect the group of female students fromtheir friends’ bullying was more difficult than that for the group of male students.
The results showed the social media’s two-facet aspects in today’s schooling behaviors.
Adding to the benefits, internet is regarded as an origin of wrong awareness resulting
in the students’ inappropriate behaviors, schooling violence and social crimes except
its addictive facet adversely influencing their learning performance and outcomes.
3. Differences in lessons learned from the parents and teachers and the real-life
experiences caused the silent conflicts about the students’ perceptions andbehaviors
All children have been educated how to behave morally by their family since they wereyoung. They continued to inherit the education from their teachers through lectures inmorality. In the context of Vietnam, children will be taught basic knowledge about how
to behave by their teachers from the pre-school to lower secondary level. These arefrom the simple lessons for the children about how to greet and answer these questions
and the moral lessons in Ethics course at the primary level to the lessons in Civil
Education course at the lower secondary level. At the upper secondary level, thestudents will be taught the knowledge about Vietnamese regulations and law. Although
they had learned the basic knowledge about how to behave and communicate morally,
there were many students who were aware and behaved inappropriately. The schoolinggrey area regarding violence and bully remained. The reasons for these issues were that
there were the silent conflicts in the students’ perceptions and behaviors differing fromwhat they learned from their parents, teachers and real-life experiences.
The survey results also revealed that about 73,4% of the students reported thedifferences in what they learned from their parents, teachers and real-life experiences.
There were 9 typical different categories of schooling behaviors regarding what thestudents observed and experienced from the real-life situations, ordered from the mostimportant to the least, illustrated in Table 2. The remarkable differences things are:52,1% inferiority, sense of group belongings, boycott, 17,4% discrimination on family
backgrounds, body shaming and 12,8% schooling violence and bully.

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Table 2. Differences in Behaviors that the Students Were Taught and Observed from
Their Real-life Experiences
No.
Things that the students learned
Things that the students observed
from their parents and teachers
from their real-life experiences
about how to behave
and the websites, social networks,
and online games and films
01 Harmony and friendliness with friend Inferiority, sense of groupbelongings, boycott 52,1%
02 Self-confidence
Sense of frightened and ashamed
03 Faith
Telling lies
04 Being respectful to background Discriminationonfamilydifference and body appearance
backgrounds, body shaming
17,4%
05 No violence and bully
Schooling violence and bully
12,8%
06 Not being foul-mouthed and no slang Being foul-mouthed, slang
07 Equity and equality
Inequity/inequality
08 Being respectful to teachers and Sense of frightened or disrespectful
adultsto teachers and adults
09 No drug and stimulant use
Being addicted
Conclusions
1. Psychological crisis in the puberty and the lack of communicative competence andexperiences in problem-solving influenced the students’ communicative skills andsuccess at the school.
2. There were no control of content when accessing the internet and appropriateorientation to the purposes of using the internet from the parents and the schools. This
resulted in the adverse impact on the students’ perceptions and behaviors: wrong
awareness of the behavioral cultural values, which lead to negative behaviors with theirfriends regarding teasing, body shaming, schooling violence and cyber bully.
3. The pressures in heavy workload resulted that many teachers had no time toaccomplish their multitasks well in supporting their student’s life skills, identifying andassisting their students deal with their psychological crisis as expected by the students’parents. In addition, the differences in the education goals and methodologies between
the students’ parents and teachers caused the conflicts adversely influencing thestudents’ learning orientation.
4. The differences in what the students were taught about how to behave and their reallife experiences and observations influenced their perceptions, attitudes and behaviors
of behavioral culture. This adversely impacted on the students’ selecting appropriate
behaviors, shaping their personality, ethical and world views.
5. The research findings emphasized the importance of family-school-society
partnerships in supporting and assisting the students gain understandings of the socialand cultural values to develop their appropriate awareness, perceptions, attitudes andbehaviors in the globally integrative context.

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Appendix
List of surveyed schools
No.
Name of schools
01 Bình Chánh High school
02
03

Sai Gon Practical HighSchoolMarie Curie High school04

Võ Thị Sáu High school05

Phú Lâm High school

06

08Nguyễn Tất Thành HighschoolVNU-HCM High Schoolfor the GiftedBình Phú High school09Trường Chinh High school

10Nguyễn Thái Bình HighschoolAlbert Einstein International
Primary, Lower and Upper
Secondary SchoolĐinh Thiện Lý International
Lower and Upper Secondary
School07

11
12

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D17/1D, Huỳnh Văn Trí street, BìnhChánh village, Bình Chánh district, HCM City
220 Trần Bình Trọng street, Ward 4, District
5, HCM City
59 Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa street, Ward 7,
District. 3, HCM City
95 Đinh Tiên Hoàng street, Ward 3, BìnhThạnh District, HCM City
No.2 2D street, An Lạc Ward, Bình Tân
district, HCM City
249 Nguyễn Văn Luông street, Ward 11,
District 6, HCM City
153 Nguyễn Chí Thanh street, Ward 9,
District. 5, HCMC
102 Trần Văn Kiểu street, ward 10, District 6,
HCM City
No.1 N11 street, Tân Hưng Thuận Ward,
District 12, HCM City
913-915 Lý Thường Kiệt street, ward 9, TânBình district, HCM City
13C habited area, Nguyễn Văn Linh street,Phong Phú Ward, Bình Chánh districts, HCM
City
80 Nguyễn Đức Cảnh street, Tân Phong Ward,
District 7, HCM City

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References
Reference to a book:
G.Endruweit và G.Trommsdorff. (2001). Dictionary of Sociology. World Publisher, p.
571.
Tran Ngoc Them. (2013). Theoretical and applied cultural issues. Culture and Art
Publisher P. 62-63.
Vu Quang Ha and Nguyen Thi Hong Xoan. (2003). General sociology. Vietnam
National University Publisher. p. 132.
Associate Professor Nguyen Dinh Tan.(2005). Sociology. Politics Publisher. p. 196.
Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede and Michael Minknow, translated by Dr. Dinh Viet
Hoa and associates Pailema. (2015). Cultures and Organisations Software of themind, intercultural cooperation and its importance for survivals. Vietnam National
University Publisher. p. 104.
Resources:“A Study of the Perceived Effects of School Culture on Student Behaviors”, Linda
Cox Story (2010): https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3621&context=etd“Bullying and Victimization Among Canadian School Children”, Craig, W. M. ,Peters, R. , & Konarski, R. (1998):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/252069601_Bullying_and_Victimization_A
mong_Canadian_School_Children.
“Relationships Between Bullying, School Climate, and Student Risk Behaviors”,
Jennifer Klein, Dewey Cornell, Timothy R. Konold (2012):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230664718_Relationships_Between_Bullyi
ng_School_Climate_and_Student_Risk_Behaviors.
“School climate and physical adolescent relationship abuse: Differences by sex,socioeconomic status, and bullying”, Sonia Jain, Alison K. Cohen, Taylor Paglisotti,
Malavika Subramanyam, Alison Chopel (2018), Elizabeth Miller (2018):
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140197118300733.
“The Effect of School Culture on Adolescent Behavioural Problems: SelfEsteem,
Attachment to Learning, and Peer Approval of Deviance as Mediating Mechanisms”,
David J. DeWit, David R. Offord, Mark Sanford, (2000):
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/082957350001600102.
“Teachers as Builders of Respectful School Climates: Implications for Adolescent
Drug Use Norms and Depressive Symptoms in High School”, Maria D. LaRusso, Dan
Romer , Robert L. Selman (2007):https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225627322_Teachers_as_Builders_of_Resp

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ectful_School_Climates_Implications_for_Adolescent_Drug_Use_Norms_and_Depre
ssive_Symptoms_in_High_School.
“The Moderating Effects of School Climate on Bullying Prevention Efforts”, Sabina
Low, Mark Van Ryzin (2014):
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264463062_The_Moderating_Effects_of_Sc
hool_Climate_on_Bullying_Prevention_Efforts.
“The statistics of immigration management released by Ministry of Public Security in
2019”, http://bocongan.gov.vn/tintuc/Pages/thong-ke.aspx?Cat=103&ItemID=24802“Vnetwork’s statistics on 21 November 2019”,
vnetwork.vn:https://vnetwork.vn/news/cac-so-lieu-thong-ke-internet-viet-nam-2019.
“Trait analysis social psychology of high school students acts of school violence”,
Nguyen Ba Dat (2014):
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/dat_nguyen_ba/publication/317567255_trait_ana
lysis_social_psychology_of_high_school_students_acts_of_school_violence_phan_tic
h_dac_diem_tam_ly_xa_hoi_cua_hoc_sinh_thpt_co_hanh_vi_bao_luc_hoc_duong/lin
ks/593ffd9daca272876dc4dc32/trait-analysis-social-psychology-of-high-schoolstudents-acts-of-school-violence-phan-tich-dac-diem-tam-ly-xa-hoi-cua-hoc-sinhthpt-co-hanh-vi-bao-luc-hoc-duong.pdf.
Theoretical and applied cultural issues “Violence against children released by
UNICEF” , https://www.unicef.org/vietnam/vi/th%C3%B4ng-c%C3%A1ob%C3%A1o-ch%C3%AD/k%E1%BA%BFt-qu%E1%BA%A3-kh%E1%BA%A3os%C3%A1t-%C3%BD-ki%E1%BA%BFn-c%E1%BB%A7a-unicef-h%C6%A1nm%E1%BB%99t-ph%E1%BA%A7n-ba-thanh-thi%E1%BA%BFu-ni%C3%AAn%E1%BB%9F-30-qu%E1%BB%91c-gia.
Contact email: mydiem1510@gmail.com

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An Innovative Learner-Centric Framework for Sustainability ofTraditional Private Higher Education Institutions post the COVID Pandemic
Krishnendu Sarkar, NSHM Knowledge Campus, India
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Abstract
Post the COVID pandemic the increasing quality and affordability of digital education
is not at all great news for traditional brick-and-mortar private higher education. To
reposition the pull of such institutions, the research attempts to develop an innovative
prototype called ‘BLUECHIP’ that would systematize a whole-institutional backed
choice-based learning at the researcher’s host institution. By default, it would
empower teachers to decisively use a mix of ‘BLUE’ instructional approaches
comprising Blended (physical-digital), Liberal (flexible and borderless), Ubiquitous(anywhere-anytime) and Experiential (project/problem-centric) for the attainment ofhigher learning and assessment outcomes. And by design, its CHIP (Creative,
Holistic, Insightful, Personalised) based pedagogical applications would consistently
add value to teaching-learning practice and praxis. Under in-house grant support ofINR 1 million, it would actuate cohesion and coupling of various departments toensure an annual institutional performance index of at least 1 on the set targetattainments under the institution’s sustainability parameters like financials, talentdevelopment, and transfer indicators, which would serve as a multiplying factor to theappraised increments of an employee, both teaching and non-teaching. The
methodology had involved data-analysis based on the feedback involving more than3000 stakeholders under relevant sets of variables to impact learner-centricity alongwith the collective joy of learning. Subsequently, 60 potential change-makers were
nominated by the institution to serve as master trainers of BLUECHIP for onward
training and teaming of 400 employees to effectively engage a population of 6000
learners in 60 programs with 1000 authored BLUECHIP modules by the end of 202021 academic year.
Keywords: Private Higher-Education, Learning-Experience, Learning-Environment,
User Experience, Sustainability, BLUECHIP, CHIP

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Higher Education in Crossroads? Even before the COVID-19, there has been rapid
growth and adoption in education technology, with global education technology
investments reaching US$18.66 billion in 2019 and the overall market for online
education projected to reach $350 Billion by 2025. Whether it is language
apps, virtual tutoring, video conferencing tools, or online learning software, there has
been a significant surge in usage since COVID-19 ( Li; Lalani, 2020). From the othersurvey of resources (Shah 2019, Impey 2020, Gopinathan 2020, Kandri 2020) it wasevident that Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that were born without abusiness model would make big money. Coursera reportedly is over 1 billion in
valuation and it shares with top partner universities 6-15% of the total revenue and
20% of gross profits on its courses. Enrolment at Udemy, another MOOC provider,
was up over 400% between February and March 2020. These surges correspond to
lockdowns across the world as the pandemic started to rage. Then, Udacity reportedlyoffers nanodegrees, which are industry-recognized to help students advance theirskills that roughly cost US$1,200, and edX ’s micro master’s degree cost is about$1,000. A nano master’s degree would take around 3-4 months involving 10 hours per
week whereas a micro master would roughly be equivalent to one semester of a fulltime master’s program. The pandemic is refocusing attention on the opportunity for
MOOCs to democratize higher education, by providing cheap or free access to anyone
in the world. Traditional Higher Educational Institutions can question the merit andvalidity of such nano and micro degrees or MOOCs or such micro-credentials but thereality is that employers are gradually shifting their recruitment preferences forproven skills without any particular bias on the source of certification of those skills.
When massive businesses have already moved from offline to online, the mootquestion is, why are traditional brick and mortar higher education hesitant toaccommodate learning credits from online education even post COVID?
The Future is Digital. Due to the COVID situation, it is widely believed that the rateof growth of digital production and consumption shall increase manifold. As part ofour social responsibility, we cannot afford to have digital laggards and digital
illiteracy. According to the resources referred (KPMG 2019; Pew Research Centre
2020; Statistica 2020; LiveMint 2020, Computer World 2020) the future is digital.
More than half of the 5 billion mobile devices are smartphones and the number ofsmartphone users in India is estimated to reach 442 million in 2022. People inadvanced economies are more likely to have mobile phones – smartphones inparticular – and are more likely to use the internet and social media than people inemerging economies. For example, a median of 76% across 18 advanced economies
surveyed have smartphones, compared with a median of only 45% in emerging
economies. Indians on average consume over 11 GB data per month and 4G data
constitute 96% of the total data traffic consumed across the country. By 2030,
a billion Indians will have access to the internet, about 839 million will be
regular smartphone users, and over 500 million will access digital content in regional
languages. 5G will be expected to be available in India by 2021 that would ensure
peak data speeds of up to 10 Gbps – up to 100 times faster than the 100 Mbps of 4G.
Given the trends, the rise of smart machines, robots, AI, cognitive computing, etc. arecertain to beat us in the future.

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Pre-COVID Analysis. Our research objective was to rank as per significance thefactors that mattered to a learner at the author’s institution. A comprehensive list of 59
curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular factors (variables) was collated based on
the general expectations from accredited professional higher education institutions,especially the self-financed ones. In 2018, more than 3000 students had participated inthat survey questionnaires including binary variables as well as few continuous
variables on a 5 point Likert scale and the samples were drawn based on conveniencesampling. The findings were as below.
- 59 variables from X1 to X59 was categorically regressed using different predictive
data modeling to see the effects on our Binary Study Response Variable Y [ ifsatisfied = 1, if not satisfied = 0].
- Based on the analysis we were able to improve especially on the factors that weresignificant with negative effects (see Table 1) like mapping of affordable MOOCs andother online resources for teaching courses (X16, X59), Continuous evaluations
outside pen-paper types (X8), Modernization of cafeterias, labs, and classrooms (X48,
X49), Introduction of Centres of Excellence (X23, X37), and other activity-basedlearning like problem-based flipped-classroom, etc. (X55).
- The working with Table 1 factors also added to the sustained emphasis on factorsthat were significant with positive effects (see Table 2). For example, the above
Centres of Excellence also contributed to X4, X5, and X56. The introduction of 8 am8 pm learning day helped X6, X50, and X3, the impetus on LMS (Learning
Management System) that was actuated in 2017 was further made effective withdemanded features for better outcomes with X54, besides additional surveillancesystems, security monitoring, and safety audits ensured that the top priority for thelearner, X14 was taken care of.
- Only 19 out of the 59 factors were found to be significant for a learner.
Table 1: Factors significant with negative effects by priority
Variable Factor
X16
Payable Faculty guided international study programs
X8
Helpfulness of internal examination
X23
Development of English communication
X49
Lab and learning infrastructural facilities
X48
Good Canteen services
X37
Yoga and meditation camps
X59
Relevant academic certifications with additional fees
X53
Maintenance and protection of utilities
X55
Classroom-activity based learning

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Table 2: Factors significant with positive effects by priority
Variable Factor
X14
Over all safety-security inside the campus
X6
Initiative to provide additional development
X4
Language learning and communication skill development
X50
If initiative taken for lab and infrastructural facilities after college
hours
X5
Adequate social and cultural events organized
X56
Scope of Learning performing arts
X14
Requirement for Technology based teaching skills
X1
Requirement of more industrial exposure
X2
Requisite interest in your program of study
X3
Need of conducting enough industry interactive sessions
Post-COVID Analysis. The Annual Academic Survey was conducted from May June 2020, with 5805 students with a primary focus to help gauge the significance of
online education – involving the LMS, pre-produced content, online teaching, eassessments and its overall effectiveness as whole technology enabled academic
delivery system. The questionnaire was e-mailed to all respondents and it used amultiple-choice response: Strongly Agree, Agree, Cannot Decide, Disagree, Strongly
Disagree, and No Comments. The majority preference with ‘Agree’ and ‘StronglyAgree’ feedback was for the following:- The effectiveness of using technology for academic delivery.
- Addition of interactive assessments like online quizzes, polls etc.
- 3-4 hours of online-teaching (curricular) a day and a maximum of 5 days a week.
- Tailor-made pre-produced content on curricular-topics in LMS
The Problem. In light of the above situation we the traditional brick and mortar
higher educational institutions were mandated to adapt quickly to the digital future,
while retaining our differentiators vis-à-vis online education and distance educationfor our sustainability in the new normal era. Either we have to perform or perish. To
address that the internally funded project entitled “BLUECHIP” was undertaken at theauthor’s institution.
Methodology
BLUECHIP. We introduced an innovative Learner-Centric Framework named
BLUECHIP for future-proofing of traditional private higher education institutions
post the COVID Pandemic (See Figure 1). Where the BLUE (Blended, Liberal,
Ubiquitous, and Experiential) components as a combination shall provide for an
integrated environment for learning and the CHIP (Creative, Holistic, Insightful, andPersonalized) design shall cater to the learning experience. As the physical-digital
ecosystem, BLUE shall always be accessible to all and is expected to gain moresignificance and technology-muscle for the continuous quality improvement in higher
education. However, it cannot merit becoming a unique differentiator for us. Whereas,
CHIP can. It will signify the ingenuity of user experience design for consistently
enhancing the learners’ experiences. Synergizing the two together as BLUECHIP,
there shall be a higher probability for our institution’s sustainability in the future.
Traditional higher educational institutions with CHIP value shall predominantly bring

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personalized teacher-student interaction to the fore compared to online education anddistance learning institutions.

Figure 1: BLUECHIP components
Step 1: Positioning the BLUECHIP. We reviewed the literature to form aperspective as an integrated BLUE environment for learning and doing alternatives
and CHIP for yielding learner-centric value propositions based on those alternatives
in the context of a digital future.
Blended Learning
Garrison (2004) defined blended learning as “the thoughtful integration of classroom
face-to-face learning experiences with online learning experiences”. Blending as the“new normal” in course delivery was identified pre-COVID in terms of thehybridization of online and face-to-face discourse, delivery media, and instructional
methods (Norberg, Dziuban, & Moskal, 2011; Graham 2006; Cross, 2006). The
diversity of blends reflected the range of possibilities for transforming learning
experience in particular and the learning effectiveness, learner satisfaction, facultysatisfaction, access, and cost-effectiveness in general. The 'how-people-learn'framework focused on the development of learner-centered, knowledge-centered,assessment-centered, and community-centered learning environments (Bransford,
Brown, & Cocking, 1999; Bunderson, 2003). A review of the literature, in general,
informed that there was not any perfect model to guarantee the efficacy of blended
learning (Zhang, Zhu 2017).
Liberal Education
Liberal education is based on the liberal arts that had formed the basis of education
since the ages, which had been about enabling free-thinking and noble actions for aquality living of all. Further study of various literature (Sorgner, 2004; Barnes 1984;
Antony, 1990; Isaiah 1969) expanded the idea of liberal education as momentary andlifelong freedom associated with various stages of life with corresponding values andinterests that changed with time.
Ubiquitous Learning
As a new learning environment, ubiquitous learning integrated the benefits of elearning and mobile learning and enhanced context-aware and seamless learning fromany location at any time. According to various studies (Ahonen, 2005; Bomsdorf,
2005; Brusilovsky, 2003; Kappel, 2002) both space and the learner took different
roles in adaptation, where learner used the learning system accessing the space toperform related activities. Besides, the plasticity of digital learning spaces or

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repositories took into account the learners’ choices on selection and adaptation andpromoted cooperative learning.
Experiential Learning
The concept of experiential learning was that learning should be a continuous process
involving students in the co-creation of knowledge as they integrated theory andexperience by doing (Kolb, 1984; Kolb, 2005; Kolb, 2008; Valkanos, 2007). The
metrics of experiential learning had to be at best qualitative because it involved
spontaneous and multiple interactions among students, business and faculty in the
problem-solving process (O’Brien, 2017).
The CHIPCHIP is posited as a virtual integrated intelligent circuit that will be ‘Insightful’ indesigning value for all participants in the knowledge chain. Where the ‘Personalized’
demand would come from learners and ‘Creative’ supply would be from ‘Holistic’knowledge sources comprising, an organically formed network of educators, experts,
AI bots, digital repositories, etc. Thus the CHIP’s Creative, Holistic, Insightful, andPersonalized teaching-learning attributes would be taken as a composite unit todeliver user experience through the BLUE learning environments. Graham Wallas’
Art of Thought (1926) had laid a four-stage model of the creative process(Preparation, Incubation, Illumination, Verification) that later became a five-stage
model with the Intimation stage presented as a general conceptual architecture within
which relevant concepts and theories from more recent creativity research, including
neuroscience and intuition, were positioned and from which a number of implications
were drawn (Sadler-Smith, 2016). The CHIP model (Figure 1) would be well-formed
with the addition of a sixth-stage in form of the Collaboration stage for higher learnercentricity with a conscious accommodation of Bloom’s taxonomy levels (Andersonet.al, 2001). The two primary ends of the CHIP’s knowledge chain would be the cocreators of new testable and usable content akin Neil Fleming’s VARK (Visual,
Auditory, Reading/writing, Kinesthesis) at basic, intermediate, and advanced levels.

Figure 2: CHIP Model for Learner Centricity

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Table 3: A typical BLUECHIP Dashboard
Code
SPA
A
B
C
D
SPA-F
Financials
12
Listing of all Sustainability Performance Areas (SPAs) under SPA-F1-n with the preset target A values (fixed). The B and C values of SPA –F1-n will dynamically get
updated.
SPA-A
Academic
25
Similarly, listing of all SPAs under SPA-A1-n with fixed A and dynamic B, C
SPA-G Governance
10
SPAs under SPA-G1-n with fixed A and dynamic B, C
SPA-SSupport Services
08
SPAs under SPA-S1-n with fixed A and dynamic B, C
SPA-P
Placements & Partnerships
15
SPAs under SPA-P1-n with fixed A and dynamic B, C
SPA-W
WoW Factors
20
SPAs under SPA-W1-n with fixed A and dynamic B, C
SPA-R
Response System
10
SPAs under SPA-R1-n with fixed A and dynamic B, C
Total of D
100
Index
A Performance Target Value (PTV) followed a standard unit of measure. For
qualitative measures the PTV was defined as a number in a scale of 1-5,
(representing 20 – 100 percent).
B
Actual fulfilment as on the instant against the corresponding A
C
Performance score against the concerned A as on the instant = B/A
D Relative weightage of SPAs (was fixed at the time of SPAs and PTV
finalization).
E
Average Performance Score for a SPA group. For Example, ESPA-F = ∑CSPA-F1-n /nF
Net Performance Score for a SPA group. For Example, FSPA-F = DSPA-F/100 *ESPA-F
Institutional Sustainability Performance (ISP)
ISP = Average (FSPA-F, FSPA-A, FSPA-G, FSPA-S, FSPA-P, FSPA-W, FSPA-R )Step 2: Model Framework. The sustainability of private higher education primarily
depended on the students’ fees unlike the case with government-aided institutions.
The BLUECHIP perspective model (see Table 3) assured the entire organization for
ensuring higher intake-capacity occupancy with an enhanced learning experience.
Subsequently, the author organization’s functional units had identified its
Sustainability Performance Areas (SPAs) as SMART (Specific, Measurable,
Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals at the start of the academic year of 2020-21.
Step 3: Appraisal System. A new system of performance-appraisal of our employees
would be in vogue that will bring the best motivation for all in the organization tocontribute and secure an ISP score of more than or at least equal to 1. Logically, theobtained ISP shall be the multiplying factor to the number of annual increments
merited by an employee as per the BLUECHIP’s HR increment policy of theorganization. For example, it has been mandated that all teachers have to attain the

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certification of ‘BLUECHIP Teacher’ based on their CHIP-UX work evidence inorder to be considered for any increments, etc. Aside from that, the policy ensured
periodic training and development of all employees based on their needs assessment
vis-à-vis the relevant SPAs. The ‘A’ value fixation of the SPAs followed aparticipatory process and was fixed at the start of the academic year. While the actual
values ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’, and the ISP score will get populated as per the progress status
inputs. All employees of the organization were trained to access the BLUECHIP
management system and generate progress status query reports under as well shall bevisible to all employees for needful corrective, collaborative, and cogent actions. The
appraisal year with BLUECHIP was notified to all concerned, which was October
2020-September 2021.
Results
The SPAs as per the above model (Table 3) for the said appraisal year beginning
October 2020- September 2021were finalized. In that pursuit, under one of the goalsof SPA-A, the organization got its online-education audited by QS-iGauge andreceived its E-Lead (as E-Learning Excellence for Academic Digitization). Besides,with respect to another goal relating the pedagogy, the routine was initiated in threezones- Z1: 8 am – 10 am, Z2:10am - 4 pm and Z3: 4 pm – 8 pm. The bands Z1 and Z3
were with a choice based selection from a bouquet of short certification courses with
CQ (Career Quotient) points and Z2 were earmarked for curricular courses andcompulsory finishing sessions for employability readiness. Further, a new normal
pedagogy approach that included the BLUE environments and the CHIP design
experience (see Figure 2) was under prototyping. The Z1-3 learners were motivated toattain minimum CQ points. Furthermore, all programs were mapped with relevant
MOOCs and digital repositories, 3-year degree Bachelors’ programs were upgradedas per CBCS (Choice Based Credit System) with 140 credits. Aside from that, 60
potential change-makers were selected as master trainers of BLUECHIP for thedevelopment of 400 employees to actuate the BLUECHIP SPAs. The expected results
among others based on quantifiable pieces of evidence were to improve theexperiences of 6000 learners in 60 programs with 1000 in-house VARK modules
under the overall motivation for the organization towards achieving an ISP of at least
1 or more than 1 by September 2021.

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Figure 2: New Normal Pedagogy Approach using BLUE Environments and CHIP
Experience
Conclusions and Discussion
Higher Education, post-COVID should actually be put to testing and evaluation basedon the desired experiences of learners so that there is higher assurance on intake-pulleven during unfavorable or disruptive times. The present situation compelled us tolook at new user stories, problem scenarios, and alternatives that would lead toeffective value to all participants adding to the vitality and viability of theorganization. In this regard, BLUECHIP should be an innovative deployment,
especially for private higher education institutions, where the sustainability is majorly
dependent on student fees at one side and on the other dependant on overcoming thecompetition, especially from the high quality to cost propositions of online education.
BLUECHIP is intended to widen and deepen the collaboration among the learners,
researchers, teachers, staff, and alumni. Besides, other stakeholders like parents,
higher education officials, industry associates, and partners. There will be different
user stories based on specific scenarios and solutions (see Figure 3-Appendices),
which will be important inputs for actuating valuable user experience. The graduate

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attributes have to focus more on learner-centricity and on the quality of knowledgetransactions as posited with the CHIP model. Problems will keep on changing, andmore so, after every major disruption. Accordingly, any actionable learner-centricmodel under the BLUECHIP perspective has to be agile enough to suitably adapt toany change and transformation. A country like India with the highest population in theage group of 18-25 years has an opportunity to maximize its gains from its new
National Education Policy 2020 (NEP), again a transformative change, to fructify its
ambition to be part of the comity of developed economies in the near future. For that,higher education institutions have to play a significant role. Where, the learner-centric
attributes have to be derived from NEP as exemplified below, which should become
the source for BLUECHIP’s SPAs.
- Multi-disciplinary education ensuring the unity and integrity of all knowledge.
- Life skills such as communication, cooperation, entrepreneurship, resilience, ethics,
empathy, social service, sports and wellness, creative and performing arts, respect for
public property, scientific temper, liberty, responsibility, and pluralism.
- Recognizing, identifying, and fostering the unique capabilities of each student, andto promote each student’s holistic development in both academic and non-academic
spheres.
- Flexibility, so that learners have the ability to choose their learning trajectories andprograms, and thereby choose their own paths in life according to their talents andinterests.
- Emphasis on high-order assessments for conceptual understanding rather than rotelearning and learning-for-exams.
- Creativity, critical thinking to encourage logical decision-making.
- Extensive use of technology in teaching and learning and increasing inclusion.
- Continuous professional development and positive working environments.
- Efficiency of the educational system through autonomy, good governance,
empowerment, audit and public disclosure, quality accreditations, and continuous
review. Some of the instrumenting UX verbs for the SPAs in the SPA-A category canbe:i) Catalyze – multifarious user activities under focussed goals by deploying state-ofthe-art technology, resources, processes, means, and machinery.
ii) Cultivate - intellectual capital to enrich and employ users to add to the body ofknowledge and understanding.
iii) Design - environment to provide user-centric quality of services under an interdisciplinary eco-system of joyful participation, co-creation, and usable solutions.
iv) Enhance- the user access with equal opportunity, inclusion, fellowship, the voiceof reason, the spirit of inquiry and exploration.
v) Foster- user-industry linkages for value generation in curricular and co-curriculardeliverables, incubation of ideas, internships, placements, etc.
vi) Deliver – local and global insights and exposure to users for real-life problem
solving by way of investigation, experimentation and validation.
vii) Create – provisions to promote innovation and change
All the eight education and learning components of BLUECHIP were empirically
proven before and are available in various literature studied here. Based on that
BLUECHIP it will be a value proposition for organizations in general and educational
ones, in particular, involving the whole organization under one common motivation oflearner-centricity. Moreover, as a synergistic combine BLUECHIP is expected to

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create new vistas for research, innovation, and development in the wider the interestof all higher education participants, councils, regulators, industry associates,
entrepreneurs, online education business, grant providers, etc. and thus becoming the
new elixir of sustainability of traditional higher educational institutions.
AppendicesFigure 3: Instance about User Stories under CHIP
Acknowledgement
The author would like to acknowledge Chief Mentor, Cecil Antony for inducting
BLUECHIP with in-house research grant support, Chief of Academic, Marisha alongwith Rishabh, Pratyay, Ashutosh for the survey analysis, and colleagues for being
motivated to be part of the BLUECHIP process. Not to mention the IAFOR referees
comments on the abstract for shaping this paper.

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Role of a Subjective Difficulty Rating in Using a System for Practicing English
Speaking
Harumi Kashiwagi, Kobe University, JapanMin Kang, Kobe University, Japan
Kazuhiro Ohtsuki, Kobe University, JapanThe Barcelona Conference on Education 2020
Official Conference Proceedings
Abstract
We have been developing a system that checks and provides information about thewords and sentences that learners use when they practice speaking English. In thisstudy, we investigated the role of a subjective difficulty rating to identify sentencesthat were problematic for the learners by using our system. In the experiment, 72
Japanese university students were provided with 47 Japanese sentences and theirEnglish translations in advance of review quizzes. We instructed them to practice
speaking the English translations without looking at the text information. This system,
then asked them to translate the Japanese sentences into English. Then a selfreflective questionnaire was administered and participants rated the difficulty of eachsentence on a five-point Likert scale. The average difficulty ratings of the 31
sentences that were answered correctly by more than 80% of the students varied from
1.7 to 4.2. Even though most students answered the questions correctly, they did notregard all the correctly answered sentences as easy. The standard deviation scores ofthe difficulty ratings of each sentence varied from 0.9 to 1.4. The difficulty ratings ofsome sentences were different for individual students. These results suggest that a
subjective difficulty rating could play a role in observing how students actually feel
about the difficulty levels of the sentences in the system, and could identify theirindividual weaknesses. Incorporating this kind of subjective difficulty rating into thesystem could help generate useful information for selecting the sentences within thesystem that suit individual student needs.
Keywords: Language Learning System, Subjective Difficulty Rating, Speaking
Practice, CG Characters

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology published theEnglish Education Reform Plan (2014) that prioritizes improving Japanese students’
oral English proficiency. However, many students report they lack confidence in
speaking English (Kashiwagi, Kang, & Ohtsuki, 2018). A lack of opportunities forspeaking English may also exacerbate this problem. Students need a practiceenvironment where they can develop their English-speaking skills, and also somestudies on reducing EFL learners’ unwillingness to speak English are needed asreported by Isoda in a 2009 study. When considering how best to facilitate theirEnglish-speaking practice, we need to observe which language items they finddifficult to handle and identify the specific words and phrases that pose challenges.
We have been developing a system that checks and provides information about thewords and sentences that learners use when they practice their English speaking. In
this study we investigated the role of a subjective difficulty rating that identifies
sentences that are problematic for learners by using our system. With this system anda questionnaire using a five-point Likert scale, we conducted an experiment with firstyear Japanese university students to investigate the following research questions:
1.
What difficulty level did students perceive for the sentences they answered
correctly? What difficulty level did students perceive for the sentences they answeredincorrectly?
2.
Are the difficulty ratings of the sentences different depending on theindividual student? What is the response variance for each sentence?
3.
Could a subjective difficulty rating play a role in providing information about
sentences that learners can use to practice English?
First, we describe the system, followed by the experiment and its results, and thendiscuss the findings. Finally, we give our conclusions on the role of a subjective
difficulty rating in our system.
Structure of the System
This section introduces the structure of the system in Figure 1, and provides anexample of its use. The structure consists of a question setting tool, “MINI BASIC,”
and AnimeViewer. AnimeViewer is a viewer tool for generating and displaying CG
content from a script written in TV Program Making Language (hereinafter called
TVML). To produce CG content in the system, we use TVML Player X. TVML is atext-based scripting language that automatically generates television programs(Hayashi, 1999). TVML Player X is the software used to read a TVML script and it
automatically generates the program’s video and audio.
For the teacher to easily create TVML scripts by selecting prepared question data, wedeveloped a question setting tool and an application tool called “MINI BASIC”(Kashiwagi, Kang, & Ohtsuki, 2020). Japanese and English sentences are organized
into situational categories, including “Cleaning and Washing,” “Illness and Injury,”and “Commuting” in the question setting tool, and related question data are preparedin a CSV file such as “Qdata file.” When question data are selected, these are sent to“MINI BASIC.”

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In “MINI BASIC,” a template file in TVML format is prepared to create a TVML
format question file. A TVML format question file is created in the tool by obtaining
question sentence text data from the question setting tool and by inputting the data
into the template file in TVML format. In this manner, when a teacher selects aquestion in the question setting tool, corresponding question sentence data are
obtained, and a TVML format question file is automatically generated. The TVML
format question file is then sent to the AnimeViewer and the CG content is produced.
After the teacher checks student’s answers, the results of the evaluation are saved in
the question setting tool. To exchange data between the question setting tool and“MINI BASIC,” virtual communication ports are used.

Figure 1: System overview.
An Example of the System in Use
An example of how the system operates is shown in Figures 2 and 3.
1.
When a teacher presses the button, the phrase “Read in the user information”
appears on the top right side of the screen shown in Figure 2 (1), and user informationis read in. Usernames are then displayed on the right side of the screen (2) in the tool.
2.
When the teacher selects a username (3), corresponding question data arepresented in the middle of the screen (4). For example, in Figure 2, the username“Yamada_1” is selected, and the information from the first question is displayed, in
this case, the Japanese sentence “Sentakumono wo sotoni hoso” and the English
sentence “Let’s hang the laundry outside.”3.
When the teacher presses the “Start” button (5) on the bottom left of the screen,
related question data are sent to MINI BASIC and converted into a TVML file. The
converted TVML file is then displayed on the AnimeViewer. In this example, CG
characters appear on the screen of the AnimeViewer, as shown in Figure 3. The
learner is then given instructions such as “Please translate the following Japanese
sentence into English.” The Japanese sentence from the first question “Sentakumono

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wo sotoni hoso” is then displayed on the AnimeViewer in Figure 3 (6). At the sametime, a synthetic voice is generated and speaks the Japanese sentence for the learner.

Figure 2: Example screen from the question setting tool.

Figure 3: Example screen of AnimeViewer.
4.
The learner orally translates the Japanese sentence into English.
5.
While listening to the learner’s answer, the teacher checks the items shown in
Figure 2 (7). Two evaluation items are prepared by the system. The first item is used
to check whether the answer is correct as a whole sentence including vocabulary,grammar, and pronunciation. Three evaluation levels are set for the item: “correct,”“some mistakes,” and “incorrect.” When there are some mistakes in the answer, suchas mistakes in the pronunciation of a word, vocabulary, or grammar, we evaluated it
as “some mistakes.” The second item is used to check whether the target word orphrase is correct. Here, the target words or phrases are shown in blue in Figure 4. For

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this item, we set three evaluation options, “correct,” “incorrect,” and, “correct, butanother expression.”6.
Navigation to the next question is accomplished by pressing the “Next” button
shown in Figure 2 (8).
7.
When the system finishes providing questions, and after the answers arechecked, the results are saved in the “result file” (Figure 1) in the question setting tool.
ExperimentParticipantsParticipants were 72 first-year students who were learning English at a university inJapan. They took review quizzes in their English language classes using the system.
They also answered a post-practice questionnaire rating the difficulty of the questionsin the quizzes on a five-point Likert scale.
Procedures
We first provided students with Japanese sentences and their English translations inadvance of each of three review quizzes. We instructed them to practice speaking theEnglish sentences without looking at the text information. All 47 sentences are shownin Figure 4. These sentences are expressions related to “Cleaning and Washing,”“Illness and Injury,” “Commuting,” and other daily life situations.

Figure 4: English sentences provided to students in the review quizzes.
Next, we administered the respective review quizzes one at a time. Students wereasked to translate the Japanese sentences into English using the system. Each review

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quiz has three or four versions, and the number of participants are shown in Figure 5.
In addition to 47 sentences, six sentences that were not shown to the students inadvance were included in the review quizzes, these unannounced sentences arehighlighted in yellow in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Quiz patterns of respective review quizzes.
A doctoral student evaluated the students’ answers by checking the items mentioned
in the previous section. We calculated the percentage of correct answers using theresults of the first evaluation item and whether the answer was correct as a wholesentence. Only the results of the evaluation option “correct” were used in thecalculation. The options, “some mistakes” and “incorrect” were excluded.
During the review quizzes, a CG character gave students instructions, such as “Pleasetranslate the following Japanese sentence into English.” The first Japanese sentence
was then displayed on the screen, as shown in Figure 3. At the same time, a synthetic
voice was generated which read the Japanese sentence to the student out loud.
After the quizzes, a self-reflective feedback questionnaire was administered to gather
responses regarding perceived difficulty ratings for the sentences. A five-point Likert
scale (one = least difficult to five = most difficult) was used.

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Results and Discussion
We calculated the percentage of correct answers and the average values of the
difficulty ratings for the respective sentences to address our research questions.
RQ1: What difficulty level did students perceive for the sentences they answered
correctly? What difficulty level did students perceive for the sentences theyanswered incorrectly?
First, we analyzed how students rated the difficulty levels, using the five-point Likert
scale, of the sentences that most answered correctly. Figure 6 shows 31 sentences thatwere answered correctly by more than 80% of the students. The average subjective
difficulty ratings for these sentences are also shown. Additionally, we calculated thestandard deviation scores of the difficulty ratings for each sentence to provide a roughindication.
As illustrated by the figure, the results indicate that average subjective difficulty
ratings for sentences answered correctly by 80% or more of students varied from 1.7
to 4.2. When we look at the detailed results, we find that some words such as“prescribe antibiotics,” “constipation,” “hives,” and “garbled” were included in thesentences with average subjective difficulty ratings higher than 4.0. We assume thatthese words were unfamiliar and difficult for most students to use. The results suggestthat students do not regard all sentences with a high percentage of correct answers as
easy, even when they gave correct answers themselves. By using subjective difficulty
ratings, we were able to better observe how the students felt about the difficulty levelsof these sentences.
Next, we analyzed how students rate the difficulty of the sentences which weretranslated correctly by less than 50% (see Figure 7) of the participants. The average
subjective difficulty ratings for those sentences and their respective standard deviation
scores are also shown.
As this figure shows, the average difficulty ratings for eight of the ten sentences weregreater than three. This indicates that most students found it difficult to work with thesentences that less than 50% of the participants translated correctly. With mostsentences, the percentage of correct answers coincides with the average values of thesubjective difficulty ratings.
This also holds true for the sentences that 10% of the students answered correctly. The
average difficulty rating of those three sentences was 4.6. Most students found it very
difficult to use these sentences easily. We found that these sentences included words
such as “damp,” “spin-drying,” and “put away,” that were probably unfamiliar or
unknown to the students. This is likely true for words such as “prescribe”“antibiotics” “constipation,” “hives,” and “garbled” that were found in other sentences
rated as difficult. These results suggest that students need a way to become morefamiliar with terms and phrases related to daily life.

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Figure 6: Sentences that more than 80% of students answered correctly.

Figure 7: Sentences that less than 50% of students answered correctly.

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It should be noted that all six of the unannounced sentences highlighted in yellow
were among the sentences that less than 50% of students answered correctly. It seems
that most students find it difficult to work with sentences they had not seen before,
and they need practice that will help them smoothly generate appropriate English
terms and phrases as they encounter them.
RQ2: Are the difficulty ratings of the sentences different depending on theindividual student? What is the response variance for each sentence?
We analyzed the standard deviation scores of the difficulty ratings of the sentences
discussed regarding RQ1 to observe the response variance. For the sentencesanswered correctly by more than 80% of the students, the standard deviation scores ofthe difficulty ratings varied from 0.9 to 1.4. The difficulty ratings of some sentenceswere different depending on the individual student.
Among the sentences that less than 50% of students translated correctly, notable
response variance was only observed in the sentence with a standard deviation scoreof 1.2. Most students felt that these sentences were difficult to use. This is especiallyapparent when we look at the sentences that 10% of students answered correctly; theaverage values of difficulty ratings for these three sentences were more than 4.5. Theirstandard deviation scores for these sentences were lower than 1.0. The difficulty
ratings of these three sentences were similar for almost all the students.
These results suggest that the standard deviation scores of the difficulty ratings allow
us to observe students’ response variance for individual sentences, and it can help us
understand the difficulty levels of each sentence on an individual student level.
RQ3: Could a subjective difficulty rating play a role in providing information
about sentences that learners can use to practice English?
For the third research question, students used a five-point Likert scale to subjectively
rate the difficulty levels of the English sentences. The subjective difficulty ratings
revealed several important points, as described above in relation to RQ1 and RQ2.
First, even though students correctly answered certain sentences, they found thosesentences difficult to work with. The subjective difficulty rating allowed us to observe
what an analysis of correct and incorrect answers alone could not by showing how thestudents felt about the difficulty levels. Second, the standard deviation scores of the
difficulty ratings allowed us to observe the response variance among students for eachsentence. We believe that the subjective difficulty rating can assist educators inunderstanding students’ performances and identifying their individual weaknesses toprovide tailored support alongside the objective review quizzes. Incorporating thiskind of subjective difficulty rating as part of the system, can offer useful guidance forselecting sentences according to individual student needs.
However, a limitation of the current study is that the sentences were rated only after
the review quizzes were taken. The difficulty of using some sentences could change
between the period before students practiced the sentences and took the quizzes, andafter they practiced them, while the difficulty levels of other sentences will likely
never change regardless of how much the student practices. By conducting pre- andpost-practice questionnaires, we might observe changes in the difficulty ratings of

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some sentences. We believe that we can best observe the detailed differences in the
difficulty levels of each sentence by analyzing the results of both questionnaires. In
future research, we hope to investigate both pre- and post-practice subjective
difficulty ratings.
Conclusion
We have been developing a system that helps learners practice English speaking by
preparing the sentences and the evaluation items to check the words and sentences
they can use. We conducted our study with 72 Japanese university students who used
the system. They then answered a questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale that
helped us to investigate the role of a subjective difficulty rating in identifying
sentences in the system that were problematic for the learners.
The results indicate that average difficulty ratings for the 31 sentences that 80% ormore of students answered correctly varied from 1.7 to 4.2. Even though most
students gave correct answers, they did not rate all these sentences as easy. We also
found that the standard deviation scores of the difficulty ratings for these sentences
varied from 0.9 to 1.4. This indicates that some students rated some sentences
differently than the average. The detailed results suggest that students need to become
familiar with terms and phrases related to daily life. Problematic words included“spin-drying,” “constipation,” and “garbled.” From the results of the experiment, wesuggest that a subjective difficulty rating could play a role in observing students’feelings regarding the difficulty levels of the sentences, and in learning how to
support individual students’ weaknesses. If we incorporate this kind of subjective
difficulty rating into the system, it could offer useful information for selecting thesentences within the system that suit the needs of individual students.
As a continuation of this study, we hope to observe the detailed differences of the
difficulty levels of respective sentences by conducting a questionnaire both before andafter they practice the sentences. We believe that we could observe the process ofstudents’ practicing by analyzing the results of the two questionnaires.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research Number
JP18K02822.

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References
Hayashi, M. (1999). TVML (TV program Making Language) - Automatic TV
program generation from text-based script -. Proceedings of Imagina ’99, 119–133.
doi:10.11485/itetr.23.4.0_1
Isoda, T. (2009). Reducing EFL learners' unwillingness to speak English. JACET
Journal, 48, 53–66. (In Japanese)
Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. (2014).
English Education Reform Plan corresponding to Globalization. Retrieved fromhttp://www.mext.go.jp/en/news/topics/detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2014/01/23/134359
1_1.pdf
Kashiwagi, H., Kang, M., & Ohtsuki, K. (2018). A basic study on the conformity ofJapanese university students in language communication activities. Official
Conference Proceedings of The Asian Conference on Education & International
Development 2018, Kobe, Japan, 299–309.
Kashiwagi, H., Kang, M., & Ohtsuki, K. (2020). A study on a method for dynamic
control and use of TVML contents. Educational technology research, 43(Suppl.), 9–
12. (In Japanese)
TVML Home Page. Retrieved fromhttp://www.nhk.or.jp/strl/tvml/index.html. (In Japanese)
Contact email: kasiwagi@kobe-u.ac.jp

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Organizing a Group of Students in order to Research the Rebound Effect inIndustry 4.0
Giani Gradinaru, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
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Abstract
The paper presents a framework with respect to organizing a group of students inorder to research the rebound effect in Industry 4.0. The framework points twocoordinates. The first one refers to conceptual delimitations and working hypotheses.
The main coordinate is focused on carrying out the research process. It will develop
aspects as: defining the concept of rebound effect, research challenge - working
hypotheses, organizing the research process, awareness among students of industryspecific concepts 4.0, awareness among students of the concept of rebound effect,setting the purpose of the research, ways to achieve the set goal, establishing researchteams and choosing topics, identification of studies in the scientific and professional
literature relevant to research topics, critical analysis of relevant studies in thescientific and professional literature, carrying out literature review studies,
quantitative analysis of the occurrence of the rebound effect in Industry 4.0 andcritical analysis of the obtained results.
Keywords: Rebound Effect, Industry 4.0, Researchiafor
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Introduction
William Stanley Jevons, in his famous book, The Coal Question of 1865, argued that
improved coal use efficiency would lead not to a reduction in national coalconsumption, but rather to an increase. Jevons states: “It is a total confusion of ideas
to assume that efficient fuel use is equivalent to reduced fuel consumption. On thecontrary, the truth is ... Every improvement in the engine, when made, only
accelerates the consumption of coal again." These ideas later developed under thename of Jevons Paradox.
Beginning with William Stanley Jevons in 1865, the concept of the rebound effectcontinued to be developed, especially after the 1970s, when the need for sustainableglobal development grew. Thus, a problem was identified regarding the possibility ofenergy efficiency in reducing energy consumption.
Technological advances and discoveries have led to a continuous increase inproductivity in energy use, as a factor of production, at the same time, energy
consumption increasing exponentially (Carl von Utfall Danielsson, 2009). Although
this is not necessarily surprising (after all, energy increases with GDP and GDP has
grown steadily over time), economic reasoning can be used to provide an explanation
for the fact that energy efficiency it may not be as effective as hoped. When energy isused more efficiently, the price of a given amount of energy decreases (ceterisparibus, ie the other factors remain unchanged). When prices fall, demand increases,
so that, indirectly, the improvement/efficiency of the energy industry leads to changes
in consumption patterns. This mechanism is described in the literature as the reboundeffect.
Organizing the research process
The emergence of Industry 4.0, especially of the phenomena and processes
generically called 4.0 challenges me to find out if the rebound effect in the sense of
Jevons but also an extension of it is generated or not in the new economic context
specific to the development of Industry 4.0. Therefore, I extend the concept ofrebound effect giving it the following meaning, transformed into two working
hypotheses:•
Hypothesis 1: 4.0 phenomena and processes, although aimed at increasing
economic efficiency, in the form of a better use of production factors and a reductionin specific consumption, really lead to a decrease in total resource consumption.
•
Hypothesis 2: if industry 4.0 does not diminish the rebound effect either thenthe circular economy can be considered a solution in diminishing the rebound effect.
The research is carried out together with the students of the Faculty of Cybernetics,
Statistics and Economic Informatics, specialization Statistics and Economic
Forecasting from the third year, by organizing them in work teams during seminars
but also for drafting projects in the discipline, by individual work, outside seminar
hours.
The research process is organized in ten stages, presented below:•
Awareness among students of industry-specific concepts 4.0•
Awareness among students of the concept of rebound effect•Setting the purpose of the research

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Ways to achieve the set goal•
Fixing the research teams and choosing the topics•
Identification of studies in the scientific and professional literature relevant toresearch topics•
Critical analysis of relevant studies in the scientific and professional literature•
Carrying out literature review studies•
Quantitative analysis of the occurrence of the rebound effect in Industry 4.0•
Critical analysis of the obtained results
Awareness among students of industry-specific concepts 4.0
In the first phase, a review is made of the main types of industrial revolutions andwhat is the paradigm specific to each of them, presented in table 1.
Table 1. The main types of industrial revolutions
Type ofindustry
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0

Paradigm
introduction of mechanical devices powered by water and steam
introduction of the concept of mass production, based on electricity
introduction of integrated circuits, information technology for
production automation - digital revolution
interconnection of digital, physical and biological systems (internet,
sensors, smart, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Augmented
Reality, robots

Industry 4.0 aims to achieve more efficient production, which saves more resources
and reduces the carbon footprint. It is characterized by:nStrong individualization of products (customization) in the conditions of an
extremely flexible mass productionn
The technology needed for this empowerment is improved by introducing
methods of self-optimization, self-configuration, self-diagnosis, understanding andintelligent support from people operating in an increasingly complex job.
n
Automation and data exchange in production technologiesnBusinesses are created as intelligent networks throughout the entire production
chain through interconnected machines, components and systems that can becontrolled with each other.
nSmart factory: sensors, IoT, robots
Awareness among students of the concept of rebound effect
To facilitate the understanding of the concept of rebound, students are presented withafilm
availableathttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXf4KVWyfjs&feature=youtu.be which presents
the Jevons paradox as well as specific industries in which it manifests itself.
After discussions on the concept of rebound effect, students follow documentation
activities on the concept of rebound, by searching in the most important scientific
literature resources available online:
Google

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Web of Science - Core Collection, InCites Journal Citation Reports, Derwent
Innovations Index, Clarivate Analytics
Emerald Management EJournals
Euromonitor Passportde Gruyter ebooks
CAB ebooks
CEEOL
JSTOR Business Collections I, II, III si IV
PROQUEST Central
Scopus, Elsevier
Setting the purpose of the research
The purpose of the research was set for all students as being: use of statisticalmethods and econometric models for the analysis of phenomena and processes
specific to Industry 4.0. Identifying the occurrence of the rebound effectStudents included in the research process are guided with reference to the steps to betaken to achieve the goal. These are presented in box 1.
Box 1. Components of the research approach

In order for the research process to generate new results, it is suggested to avoid thebeaten paths and to follow some patterns used for the elaboration of the projects,
proposing the development and application of soft skils in the approach of thescientific approach. These are highlighted in box 2.
Box 2. Soft skills needed to achieve the goal of the research

Setting research teams and choosing topics
The research is performed individually or in teams of 2-3 members. Students identify
areas of interest both from the immediate perspective of the development ofundergraduate work and the career path after graduation, in the context of achieving
the purpose of research. The distribution of teams by topics is presented in table 2.

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Table 2. Distribution of research teams
Team
Topic
1
Rebound effect on the car market - Automation2
Study on the rebound effect for CO2 emissions from passenger transport
Manifestation of the rebound effect by applying new technologies in the3
educational system
4
The rebound effect in the economy
The rebound effect of electric / hybrid cars against conventional ones (in terms
5of consumption)
6
The rebound effect in the stock market
7
The rebound effect in technology development
8
Combating the Jevons Paradox
9
Technology development in the labor market - the rebound effect10
The rebound effect on the solar house
The impact of Industry 4.0 on the labor market - prospects for the rebound11
effect12
The rebound effect and the influence of technology in sports
13
The rebound effect in the aeronautical industry
14
The circular economy in the fashion industry
15
The rebound effect on the future of the labor market
16
The rebound effect and new technologies used in agriculture
Increasing the consumption of plastics from the perspective of the rebound17
effectStudents are asked to identify 10-12 scientific and professional studies that aresuitable to be used in conducting a critical analysis of the literature. The online
sources of the studies selected by each team are presented below.
Critical analysis of relevant studies in the scientific and professional literature
In the first phase, students are asked to identify common issues that appear in theidentified scientific studies, with reference to the research topic to be developed.
These are extracted in the form of a survey.
In the second phase, students identify different and contradictory aspects that appear
in the identified scientific studies.
At this stage, each team starts research actions specific to conducting a literature
review study. Thus, the common aspects identified in established scientific studies are
written in the form of a literature review study, while the contradictory aspects
identified are considered working hypotheses for quantitative analyzes to be
developed in the later stages of the research approach.
The main aspects from the literature review studies lead to the development of six
major coordinates:•
Jevons Paradox

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•
•
•
•
•

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Direct rebound effectIndirect rebound effect
The rebound effect at the microeconomic level
The rebound effect at the macroeconomic level
The paradigm of technological development on the rebound effect

Quantitative analysis of the occurrence of the rebound effect in Industry 4.0
The steps of the quantitative analysis approach to be followed are described in Figure
1.

Figure 1: Stages of the quantitative analysis approach
Students are asked to identify a number of 18-20 statistical indicators for which toanalyze the availability of data to the main data providers: National Institute of
Statistics, Eurostat, WorldBank, OECD. The types of statistical data are described inbox 3.
Box 3. Types of statistical data

For data processing it is proposed to use two types of models, specific to statisticaleconometric modeling (figure 2):•
Deterministic models;•
Econometric models.

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Deterministic models, of the form y = f (x) which are frequently used in economic
analysis, in the factor analysis of the variation, in time or space, of socio-economic
phenomena, reflecting deterministic or functional connections.
Econometric models that describe the statistical or stochastic connection between the
inputs of the system (influencing factors X) and its outputs, the resultant variable Y,of the formy = f(x)+u.

X {

S

} Y

Figure 3: Statistical-econometric modeling
For the indicators organized with profile data, the following types of analysis areproposed, in order to highlight the manifestation of the rebound effect on thephenomena and processes specific to industry 4.0.:•
Regression analysis;•
Cluster analysis;•
Analysis in main components.
For the indicators organized with data observed in time, the following types ofanalysis are proposed, in order to highlight the manifestation of the rebound effect on
the phenomena and processes specific to industry 4.0.:•
Data analysis using exponential smoothing method;•
Models ARIMA and SARIMA;•
Models VAR.
For the indicators organized with panel data, panel regression is proposed.
Conclusion
The approach of scientific research undertaken together with the students in order toresearch the rebound effect in Industry 4.0 generated four scientific main domains:•
Manifestation of the rebound effect in transports•
Structural changes in the labor market - manifestation of the rebound effect•
The development of Industry 4.0 accentuates the rebound effect•
The circular economy as a solution to diminish the rebound effect.
The research topics that can be used for develop the domain about the manifestationof the rebound effect in transport are:•Rebound effect on the car market - Automation•
Study on the rebound effect for CO2 emissions from passenger transport•
The rebound effect in the economy•
The rebound effect of electric/hybrid cars against conventional ones (in termsof consumption)•
The rebound effect in the aeronautical industry
Research topics that can be used for develop the domain about structural changes in
the labor market - the manifestation of the rebound effect are:•Development of technology in the labor market - the rebound effect•
The rebound effect on the future of the labor market
Research topics that can be used for develop the domain about the development ofIndustry 4.0 that emphasizes the rebound effect are:

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Manifestation of the rebound effect by applying new technologies in the
educational system•
The rebound effect in technology development•
The rebound effect on the solar house•
The impact of industry 4.0 on the labor market – perspectives of theappearance of the rebound effect•
The rebound effect and the influence of technology in sports•
The rebound effect and new technologies used in agriculture
Research topics that can be used for develop the domain about the circular economy
as a solution to reduce the rebound effect are:•Circular economy in the fashion industry•
Increasing the consumption of plastics from the perspective of the reboundeffect

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References
Air Transport Department, Cranfield University, Fuel and air transport, 2016,
https://ec.europa.eu/transport/sites/transport/files/modes/air/doc/fuel_report_final.pdf,
06.04.2020
Alcott, 2005. Jevons’ Paradox. Ecological Economics
Amelang S., Renewable fuels will not solve aviation's climate dilemma - industry
experts,2019, https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/renewable-fuels-will-not-solveaviations-climate-dilemma-industry-experts, 7.04.2020
Amicarelli V., Lagioia G.,Patruno A., AVIATION FUEL EVOLUTION: A REVIEW,
2016, http://www.asecu.gr/files/13th_conf_files/The-Aviation-Fuel-Evolution-AReview.pdf, 08.04.2020
Andrae, A.S.G. 2015. On Global Electricity Usage of Communication Technology
Andrae, A.S.G., 2016. The Internet: Explaining ICT Service Demand in Light of
Cloud
Balde, C.P., 2015. E-waste statistics: Guidelines on classifications, reporting andBlazheski F., 2016, Cloud banking or banking in the clouds?
Blumenthal, K., 2015. E-waste statistics: Guidelines on classifications, reporting andindicators. U. N. Univ. IAS-SCYCLE Bonn Ger.
Böhringer, Christoph; Rivers, Nicholas (2018): The energy efficiency rebound effectin general equilibrium, Oldenburg Discussion Papers in Economics, No. V-410-18,
University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, Oldenburg
Bomhof, F. 2009. Systematic analysis of rebound effects for ‘greening by ICT’Broeders H., Khanna S., 2015, Strategic choices for banks in the digital age
Carl von Utfall Danielsson, 2009 - The Rebound Effect: Theory, Evidence andImplications for Energy Policy
Chikage M., Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2018,https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0965856418300235,
06.04.2020
DEFRA, 2004. Energy Efficiency: the Government’s Plan for Action. Department ofEnvironment, Food & Rural Affairs, London, April.
Devezas, T.C., 2016. A simple extension of dematerialization theory: Incorporation oftechnical progress and the rebound effect. Technol. Forecast. Soc. Change

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DTI, 2003. Energy White Paper. Our Energy Future: creating a low carbon economy.
The Stationery Office, London.
Edgar G. Hertwich, 2005 - Consumption and the Rebound Effect An Industrial
Ecology Perspective effect. Ecol. Econ.
Elisa Wood, 2017 - Energy Efficiency and the Rebound Effect: Neither Big Nor Bad
EvansA., Schafer A., The rebound effect in the aviation sector,
2013,https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-rebound-effect-in-the-aviationsector-Evans-Schaefer/e6ead6f5711b7c98bc4290e63c0b082a9f32424d#extracted,
08.04.2020
Galvin, R., 2015. The ICT/electronics question: Structural change and the reboundGarcia M., Air Travel Projected To Double In 20 Years, But Protectionism Poses
Threat,2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisagarcia/2018/10/24/iata-raises-20year-projections-to-8-2-billion-passengers-warns-against-protectionism/, 7.04.2020
Gill, S.F., 2015. E-waste statistics: Guidelines on classifications, reporting and
Gossart, C., 2015. Rebound effects and ICT: a review of the literature, in: Hilty, L.M.,
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Kumar K. N., Balaramachandran P. R., ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION - A
STUDY OF THE IMPACT ON CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IN RETAIL BANKING
INDUSTRY
Kumar M., SaumyaS., BerzK., Le Boulay G., Tang T., Tripathi S., Walsh I., Xavier
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Magee, C.L., 2016. A simple extension of dematerialization theory: Incorporation oftechnical progress and the rebound effect. Technol. Forecast. Soc. ChangeMăzăreanuE., Commercial airlines worldwide - fuel consumption 2005-2020, 2020
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Santarius, T., Walnum, J.H., Aall, C. (Eds.), Rethinking Climate and Energy Policies:
New Perspectives on the Rebound Phenomenon.Computing Technologies, Springer
Sylvia Rowley, 2011 - Could the rebound effect undermine climate efforts? - The
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Topham G.,Aviation's flight towards low emissions only fuels the crisis, 2019,https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/sep/19/aviations-flight-towards-lowemissions-only-fuels-the-crisis, 06.04.2020
Walnum, H.J., 2016. The Internet: Explaining ICT Service Demand in Light of Cloud
Computing Technologies, in: Santarius, T., Walnum, J.H., Aall, C. (Eds.), Rethinking
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Springer International Publishing, Cham Dasbarman D., Tallam C., Mohan K.,(2018), Future of consumers banking: the augumented way
Contact email: giani.gradinaru@gmail.com

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An Intersectional Understanding of International Female Doctoral Students’
Narratives
Sabrina Syed, The University of Newcastle, Australia
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Abstract
This paper explores the experiences of international female doctoral students inAustralia, including significant social and academic life-events, through narrativeinquiry. Many theoretical and empirical doctoral studies explore the experiences ofdoctoral students in 'big-picture' and generalised ways. This research contributes toour understandings of more specific experiences. The goal of this study is to begin
mapping an account of the intersection of gender, higher degrees, and social identitiesof these students from their point of view. Therefore, I have conducted a narrativeinquiry among 13 international female doctoral students through multiple email
exchanges, followed by in-depth interviews. A total of 65 narratives and 13
interviews have been collected at the end of the data collection. The theory ofIntersectionality and the Feminist Standpoint theory consolidate to aid the thematic
analysis of research participants' narratives, as they reflect how power operates within
our social and academic culture. The research findings contribute to ourunderstanding of the complexity and diversity of the international female doctoral
students' lives and allow the educators, universities, policymakers, and future doctoral
students to see a closer and more detailed view of these students' life events.
Keywords: International Female Doctoral Student, Narrative Inquiry, Intersectionality

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Introduction
Modern societal structures are patriarchal and constructed in such a way where men
make most of the political, economic and cultural decisions (Profeta, 2017). Tertiary
education around the world is not an exception - more men are in leading position
than women (Aiston & Yang, 2017; Winchester & Browning, 2015). Australia moved
relatively quickly to enroll women in the universities. However, the men-women ratio
never achieves the satisfactory bar in the decision-making position. Men often holdthe maximum leading places and make decisions for women at the university level.
As a result, women voice often hidden from the mainstream student voice (Booth &Kee, 2011). Contextual background and cultural differences create a different
circumstance for international female students, which lead them living in a parallel
community and separate them from the multicultural society of Australia (Gomes,2015). The struggles of international female doctoral students are more complicated
due to less number of women enrollment rate in higher degree research programmes
along with the mode of their study and intersectional identities (Devos et al., 2017).
According to recent data, women comprise around 45% of higher degrees research
students globally but underrepresented at the doctoral level, even where they are overrepresented at the master's level research programme (Contreras-Aguirre & Gonzalez,
2017; OECD, 2019). Following the global trend, more women are enrolling to pursue
higher degrees in recent years than before in Australian universities (AustralianGovernment's Department of Education and Training, 2016) [Figure 1,2,3 and 4].
However, the growing number of women in Australian higher education does notconfirm an equal and women-friendly environment for female students in theuniversity atmosphere (Pritchard, 2007; Savigny, 2014). Instead, it shows a gap of
information as the data is absent or publicly unavailable (Boey, 2014).
Figure 1: Gender breakdown of students enrolled in Australian higher
education,1949-2012 (Parr, 2015)

This statistic shows the growing trend of women enrolment rate in Australian higher
education from 1949 to 2012. The significant growth occurred between 1973 and1991. Furthermore, this growth continued to increase over time presented in Figure 2.

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Figure 2: Gender breakdown of students enrolled in Australian higher education,
1989-2017

Source: Australian Government’s Department of Education and Training (2018)
Though the women enrolment rate is higher than the men in the overall Australianhigher education system, women were still behind than men in HDR enrolment till
2017. The number of female students increased over time, but men were in theleading position because men’s number also increased steadily in the HDR enrolment.
Figure 3: Gender break down of HDR students in Australia, 1989-2017

Source: Australian Government’s Department of Education and Training (2018)

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Figure 4: Gender breakdown of International students in Australia, 1989-2017

Source: Australian Government’s Department of Education and Training (2017)
Figure 5: Number of male and female international postgraduate students inAustralian universities by field (Larkins, 2018)

In 2018, remarkably, more international female students were enrolled in
postgraduate programmes in Australian universities than international male students
in almost all the field of study except IT and engineering-related fields (Larkins,2018). Though these women comprise a more significant number among international
postgraduate students in Australian, did not get much attention by the policymakers
and/or universities because little work has been done only focusing on the facts,
figures and lives of international female postgraduate and doctoral students’ till now.
Therefore, their struggles are hidden to the world. There is a need to explore thesestudents' lives that take places within and outside the university. It is essential toidentify the strategies that can support female international doctoral students in

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mind, I intended to conduct this project to explore the narratives of international
female doctoral students in Australia.
The objective of the study
The objective of this study is to explore the academic and social experiences ofinternational female doctoral students in Australia. This includes understanding
experiences which impact their journeys as postgraduate students and observing theirchanging perceptions about education through the pathway of doctoral study. The
goal of this study is to begin to map an understanding of the intersection of gender,
higher degrees and social identities that are experienced by these students.
Research questions
1. How have international female doctoral students in Australia experienced PhD
journeys?
a) What motivates them to undertake a PhD?
b) How do they experience their academic and social life during their PhD?
c) In what ways do intersections of gender, doctoral studies and other social identities
impact their experiences?
Narrative inquiry
This is a narrative study (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). Narrative inquiry is a way of
inquiring into people’s live events. It remains attentive to the broader contexts andrelationships within the nest of human lives (Meister, 2011). I chose narrative inquiry
for data collection because the intension was to collect in-depth data, which needs toreflect participants' life experiences. Life experiences come out better through stories.
We are all storytellers, and stories are the best way to see the past. This method
helped me to dig into my participants' life events and helped the participants to reflect
on their experiences.
There were three phases in the data collection process. The first phase was thebriefing session. This was an essential session to start-with. The objective of thissession was to explain the purpose and goal of the study to the participants as well as
introduce and negotiate a flexible framework to support their narratives. Anotherpurpose of this session was to break the ice to ensure a safe and friendly space for theparticipants so that they can open-up while writing their narratives and participatingin the interviews. Participants who understood and agreed with the process of datacollection were invited to the second phase.
I have adapted multiple email exchanges method from the letter exchange method forthe second phase of data collection (Barksdale, Watson, & Park, 2007; Smith, 1993),
which helped me to dig into life events of the participants by requesting for moreclarification if needed and covered many aspects of their lives in a short period oftime.

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The last phase was the semi-structured interviews. This is the stage where the data
became more detailed and confirmed the credibility of the participants’ narratives. All
the interviews were transcribed and returned to the participants for editing and final
approval at the end of the data collection. The written narratives were also compiledin one document for each participant and send back to them for a thorough review. A
total of 65 written narratives and 13 individual interviews were stored at the end of
the data collection.
Theoretical Framework
The Feminist Standpoint theory and the theory of Intersectionality consolidate theircollaboration in the study to explain the experiences of international female doctoral
students. Intersectionality analyses and signifies social positionality of the participants
based on their experiences from a particular location (Crenshaw, 1989) and therecognition of their experiences is the basis of standpoint theory (Harding, 2004).
Feminist standpoint theory provides an explanatory framework devoted to explaining
how knowledge remains central to maintaining and changing biased systems of
power. It advocates using women's everyday lives as a foundation for constructing
knowledge. It helps scholars to understand and explain the world throughmarginalised, subordinated and oppressed women's point of view in the society. It is
the process of acknowledging their knowledge, skill and experiences (Pandey, 2016).
This theory is deep-rooted in the assumption that knowledge is socially situated andprimarily based on the lives of men in dominant races, classes, and cultures. Since
women's lives are different from men's and most knowledge does not reflect theirrealities, it is necessary to reveal the social order from women's point of view
(Harding, 1991, 2004).
The intersection of multiple identities creates an environment for women to havemulti-dimensional experiences. Therefore, the theory of Intersectionality recognisesthat women who have several oppressed identities in society live different lives than
women who share only one or some of those oppressed identities (Crenshaw, 1989).
This theoretical position analyse the positionality of international female doctoral
students by recognising their intersectional identities simultaneously and inclusively
in a society. This framework structures the understanding of the intersection ofparticipants' social and academic identities. Simultaneously, it focuses on theirperspectives and gives importance to their point of view about their social
positionality as international female doctoral students in Australia.
Understanding the participants' positionality through the narratives consists of four
steps. First, we accept the fact that their identities are inseparable from each other.
Second, as a result of such inseparable identities, we recognise that their positions areunlike many students. Third, we must admit the truth that the more layers of
disadvantages that are present in their life are rooted in the way the society operates
based on its history and policies. Finally, it is necessary to include their voices in theknowledge and equitably address their needs.
The theoretical approach acknowledges systemic discrimination takes place due topeople's circumstance or uniqueness such as sexual identity, gender identity, race,

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economic status, immigration status, national origin, ethnicity, physical andeducational ability. This systemic discrimination among all other aspects of one's
identity influences accesses to opportunity. Recognising the multiple barriers toopportunity and multiple forms of prejudice is the first step in this approach. In thematerial world, people are frequently subject not only to discrimination based on
multiple aspects of their identity but also to discrimination unique to the intersectionof their identities (Cho, Crenshaw, & McCall, 2013). So, for example, the stereotypes
and difficulties faced by an Asian female doctoral student can differ from women ofother races, native-born Australians, or immigrant Australians. This theoreticalframework goes beyond recognising the multiple forms of discrimination andidentifies that the different forms of disadvantages may intersect with each other andresult in overlapping and reinforcing barriers to opportunity. These overlapping
systems result in unique forms of insight that only impact those in that community.
This theoretical approach can also include focusing on the unique challenges of those
who experience the intersections of multiple identities. For example, International
students (who face both racial discrimination and discrimination because of theirimmigration status) or international female doctoral students (who face discrimination
because of their gender identity, age, and/or marital status). Both have the possibilities
to face the intersection of their multiple identities. Therefore, this framework demands
recognition of the voice of those most directly impacted because they are often
excluded from mainstream conversations. At this point, this framework allows us tounderstand the importance of listening stories from the participants directly andvaluing their voice. Valuing voice means lifting, promoting, and supporting theleadership and storytelling of those most affected by policies and practices andcentering their practical suggestions (Harding, 2004).
Affected individuals have the actual experience that makes them thought leaders in
the movement for social justice. Therefore, valuing voice allows those who are
affected by policies or practices to play a substantial role in building their own story.
It is obvious to recognise that there are multiple voices within a movement when
speaking about issues. There is no single way of experiencing an issue, and multiple
voices and perspectives need to be considered in order to make a real, lasting, andequitable change (Harding, 2004). For example, when talking about the need topromote accountable supervising or academic supports may be mindful to uplift theexperiences of international postgraduate students, domestic postgraduate students,
male and female doctoral students to confirm that the movement is inclusive.
However, each students’ experiences within the system are often different and requiredifferent monitoring solutions.
The success of this theoretical approach is ensuring different voices (from different
dimensions) are included in the dominant converse about an issue. Therefore, theresearch approach recognises the importance of each student's perspective about theirsocial and personal life while narrating their PhD experiences to get an overview of
their life experiences during doctoral study. One way to cover all the aspects ofinternational female doctoral students' lives is to get disaggregated data through theirnarratives. The narratives, which include their background, family, and community
lives as well as their study and work experiences. Highlighting the importance ofdisaggregated data assures that the specific experiences due to intersectional identities

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are not missing, rather being uplifted. This protects the voices of those who are
directly impacted by ensuring their unique experiences are recorded.
Data analysis
The selection of the subtext was essential for data analysis. In this step, with theresearch questions in mind, I marked all the relevant sections of the narratives andassembled to create a new file or subtext. For example, quotes about various aspectsof the participants’ academic lives and social lives were marked separately.
The second step was defining the thematic categories. I identified the themes from theselected subtext, named separately by using NVivo. Words, sentence and sometimes agroup of sentences been considered under a theme.
The third stage was sorting the material into categories: At this stage, I grouped
different parts of the narratives under the defined thematic categories. Such as underthe ‘student-supervisor relationship’, all the relevant subtext has been included forfurther analysis.
Finally, the narrative content collected in each thematic category was used to describe
the meaning of the narrative text by using the theoretical framework.
Conclusions
I have categorised the findings into three themes. First, the context and factors that
motivated these students to undertake a doctoral degree. Where I have seen thehistories of their lives, which influenced them to undertake a PhD, this also reflected
their expectations. The primary motivation came from their Family upbringing, Past
Social context, Previous school/University experiences, peer influences and lastly
many of them decided to undertake a PhD for their career advancement.
The second theme was the study experiences during their PhD. They have narrated
their study experiences in two ways. They talked about their achievements, which
includes milestones of PhD that fuels their journey as well as discussed and reflectedon their on-going struggles. For example, one of the common struggles amonginternational female doctoral students was their communication issues. Many of themstated that their communication issues are not rooted in their lack of language skills
but lack of cultural knowledge, which hampered their social lives and studentsupervisor relationships. One of the participants explicitly narrated her experienceswith her two-male supervisors, who dominated and were rude to her. She said,“I felt that they underestimated me because I am a small tiny woman comparing tothem, and I am also not confident in my communication skills. Therefore, I suffered in
my first two years. Later I have changed my way of communication and had to raisethe volume of my voice during the meeting so that they take me seriously”.
However, the student-supervisor relationship is not only being suffered due tocommunication skills. Another participant faced similar experiences from her female
co-supervisor. She believed her co-supervisor were not supportive because of her

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religious and cultural beliefs. Her co-supervisor does not like Muslim people because
she had some bad memories from her past with Muslims.
So, if we analyse these two cases carefully, there were multiple layers of identities ofeach student, such as gender, ethnicity, religion cultural identities, academic status,
which intersected and put them in a circumstance which was difficult to overcome
and a challenge for them during their PhD. However, they also shared many goodexperiences because the intersection of multiple identities does not always put people
in a disadvantaged situation; sometimes, it brings benefits to them.
The experience of international female doctoral students is unique in a sense because
when they try to adjust their academic life in a new educational environment, theyalso experience a changing landscape of their lifestyle, which is an add on difficulties
during their PhD. That was my third theme. It is widespread among international
students that they face challenges in finding suitable accommodation in Australia at
the beginning of their study. On top of that, financial instability, family
responsibilities and community issues are some prevalent challenges for them. It
becomes more complicated when that student is a woman and career-oriented because
society is judgmental towards women actions.
Overall, the research findings highlighted the complexity and diversity ofinternational female doctoral students’ experiences from a feminist perspective,
revealed their expectations and reality, which will allow educators, policymakers andfuture students to better prepare for the future.
As with all research, there were limitations to note. First, because of the nature ofnarrative research, this study conducted with a small group of participants. Therefore,
the study purpose was not to generalise the findings to the broader population;
instead, it provides an in-depth exploration of the participant’s experiences andperspectives. Second, doctoral students’ heavy workload was a demotivating factor
for the participants to continue their participation in this study, and I had to allocate
more time for data collection. Third, although a narrative approach offers space toexplore stories and pay attention to the diversity of human experiences, it has
challenges conducting unconventional inquiry (Heikkinen, Huttunen, Syrjälä, &Pesonen, 2012). In this case, I was aware of these challenges and took precautions to
avoid and reflect upon them.
Acknowledgements
I want to acknowledge three of my supervisors Associate Professor Joanne Ailwood,
Associate Professor Mitchell O'Toole and Associate Professor I-Fang Lee for theircontinuous encouragement and support in my project as well as I want toacknowledge Katrina Curry, my colleague and a very good friend. She is helping me
to improve my academic writing.

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Appreciative Inquiry: The Fundamental Questions of AI’s Validity andAppropriateness in Transforming English Education in Japan
Leveth Jackson, Shizuoka Prefectural Education Center, JapanThe Barcelona Conference on Education 2020
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Abstract
Foreign language education in Japan is currently undergoing educational reform with
the implementation of a newly revised course of study which mandates that English
classes be taught solely in English (MEXT, 2019). Despite these efforts, it appears to
be an illusion as the government limits and controls the contents of English educationand instruction. School curriculums are controlled by the National Course of Studyand the textbooks used are predominantly chosen from government authorizedindividuals based on reviews by prefectural boards of education. This has provided
many roadblocks to English education in Japan as decisions about curriculum has
failed to involve key stakeholders such as teachers and students. Hence, the teachers
are not prepared to handle the guidelines in the curriculum in teaching English
courses and the demands being placed on them especially with changes to the content
and their teaching styles. This traditional way of thinking and decision making has
significantly affected the performance of student's English competence. Therefore, as
educational leaders it is imperative that Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is recognized asmuch more than an organizational development tool and therefore utilize its strength
to reshape the practice of learning, design and development- an orientation toeducational change. This paper outlines the principles of AI and its applicability tolanguage education reform in Japan; illustrates AI practices and compares AI to
traditional approaches of organizational change and its validity and appropriateness.
The study highlights recommendations that can be used by educational institutions insuccessfully managing transformational change.
Keywords: Appreciative Inquiry (AI), Organizational Change, English Education
Reform, Educational Policy, EFL,
Educational Transformation, Leadership,
Management & Administration, Organizational Change

iafor
The International Academic Forumwww.iafor.org

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Introduction
Great emphasis has been placed on English study in Japan, both in the public-school
system and through the enthusiastic use of thousands of private English training
centers. Nonetheless levels of English among adults are below the world average.
This is particularly striking when compared to the astoundingly high quality ofachievement in math, which is consistently demonstrated in international tests. An
over-emphasis on rote learning, relatively low levels of exposure to foreigners ineveryday life, and teacher-student norms which impede conversation practice allcontribute to the problem (English First Report, 2017)
In the past six years, Japanese adults have not improved their English. If anything,
their skills have declined slightly. During the same period, other Asian countries, mostnotably Indonesia and Vietnam, have made enormous progress. Despite being a far
wealthier and more developed country, Japan is struggling to teach its students
English for use in a competitive global economy. While all students now study
English at some point during their education, English has only been taught inJapanese primary schools since 2011, and instructional methods at all levels rely ontranscription to the Japanese alphabet, memorization, recitation, and, at higher levels,translation. Additionally, there is little emphasis on English as a tool for international
communication. A series of education reforms has been implemented in an attempt toimprove English proficiency, so far with no measurable impact on adult learners
communicative skills.
The approaches to problem solving and organizational change affect the capacity to
act strategically as leader managers. Our mindset and thought processes can affect
how we drive organizational change. It is important that Appreciative Inquiry (AI ) is
recognized as much more than an organizational development tool and therefore
utilize its strength in research to transform organizations. As posited by Watkin &Mohr (2001) AI can be used to reshape the practice of organizational and educational
learning, design and development; an orientation to organizational change.
Understanding and applying appreciative inquiry can affect the influence and change
process as managers and decision makers to approach organization problems withskills and perspectives that are informed by thought that address the context,
complexity and significance of organizational situations.
Principles of Appreciative Inquiry
Appreciative Inquiry according to Cooperrider and Whitney (2005) is the study ofwhat “gives life,” energy and vitality to organizations, teams and people when they
are at their best. Appreciative Inquiry does not assume that any person or organizationis always at its best. It does however posit, that both research and experience show,that people learn, and organizations change most readily when they focus on, study,
and engage in dialogue about strengths, patterns of success and who they are at theirbest. Based on this purpose, the Appreciative Inquiry process engages large groups ofpeople in dialogue and deliberations about their individual and collective strengths,
their hopes and dreams for the future, as well as opportunities and plans forcollaborative action.

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In their book titled, “Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in Change”
Cooperrider &Whitney (2005) proposed "a new model of change leadership" (p.2) for
organizational improvement. Appreciative inquiry demonstrates that withinorganizations nowadays, many leaders, professionals, and staff members focus on
how to identify and solve problems, how to overcome their weaknesses and defects,
and how to cover and polish their disadvantages. In this way, everyone is surrounded
by a myriad of problems, difficulties, and weaknesses that give rise to a negative
feeling of their organizational environment. Within such an organization, both leadersand staff members are passive and possess a low morale. However, appreciativeinquiry calls for people to "approach the problem from the other side" In essence,
problems are not to be ignored, but to be examined from a positive perspective,
because appreciative inquiry "suggests the idea that collective strengths do more thanperform- they transform" which in of itself is organizational improvement.
Appreciative Inquiry is a strengths-based approach to learning, change, planning andimplementation. Using AI as a process to design a curriculum produces organizational
learning opportunities and creates the conditions for a remarkable implementation.
Applying AI to the capstone project involves the 4D cycle which includes: Discovery,
Dream, Design and Destiny. Likewise, understanding and applying appreciativeinquiry can affect the influence and change process as leader managers and decision
makers to approach at the Board of Education with skills and perspectives that are
informed by thought that address the context, complexity and significance oforganizational situations.
AI can be used to redesign the practice of organizational learning, design anddevelopment- an orientation to change (Cooperrider &Whitney 2005). Through AI,
curriculum transformation can occur as all stakeholders will be involved in 4D
process hence they are involved in creating and implementing the transformation
based on personal and collective strength.
4-D Process
According to Cooperrider and Whitney (2005) the process generally follows theAppreciative Inquiry 4-D Process: Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny.
Figure 1. Appreciative Inquiry “4 D” Cycle (Cooperrider &Whitney, 2005).

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The four key phrases of an AI process includes:
Discovery
The first phase in the model it consists of participants interviewing each other andsharing stories about their peak experiences.
Dream
Based on the information obtained from the interviews, employees envision
themselves and their organization functioning at their best. Through various kinds ofvisualization and other creative exercises, participants think broadly and holistically
about a desirable future.
DesignBased on these dreams participants propose strategies, processes, and systems; makedecisions; and develop collaborations that will create and support positive change.
They develop provocative propositions or possibility and design statements that areconcrete, detailed visions based on what was discovered about past successes.
Destiny
In the Destiny phase, participants begin to implement both their overall visions of theDream phase and the specific provocative propositions of the Design stage. This
phase is ongoing as participants continue to implement changes, monitor theirprogress, and engage in new dialogue and Appreciative Inquiries. AI is so structured
that it engages employees to identify and co-create an organization’s
future. Understanding and applying appreciative inquiry can affect the influence andchange process as leader managers and decision makers to approach organization
problems with skills and perspectives that are informed by thought that address thecontext, complexity and significance of organizational situations.
Open Ended Interview Questions that Address Organizational Improvement
AI is so structured that it engages employees to identify and co-create anorganization’s future. Understanding and applying appreciative inquiry can affect the
influence and change process as leader managers and decision makers to approachorganization problems with skills and perspectives that are informed by thought that
address the context, complexity and significance of organizational situations.
According to Cooperrider & Whitney (2005) the AI interview process generally
follows the Appreciative Inquiry 4-D Process. The discovery phase, which is the firstphase in the model consists of participants interviewing each other and sharing stories
about their peak experiences.
The AI interview questions are structured to address organizational issues andproblems from a more constructive perspective by reframing problem statements into
statements that focuses on strengths and successes. In formulating AI interview
questions Vogt, Brown & Issacs (2003) believes that examining each question is
crucial to the interview process. The researcher should therefore ask themselves:•
Which questions assume a solution?

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Which assume error or blame, leading to narrow discussions or defensiveness?
Which stimulate reflection, creativity, and/or collaboration among those
involved?
•
What assumptions or beliefs are we introducing with this question?
•
How would we approach this issue if we had an entirely different belief
system?
••Vogt et al (2003) adds that paying close attention to the construction, scope andassumptions of the questions asked will connect ideas and find deeper insights that
may create a forward movement.
AI and organizational Improvement
An example of the appreciative inquiry process is outlined in the case of Nutrimental
Foods of Brazil (Cooperrider & Whitney, 2005). Cooperrider & Whitney(2005)explains how the closure of the plant for a full day brought all seven hundred
employees together for a day of discovery into the factors and forces that have given
life to the system when it had been most effective, most alive, and most successful asa producer of high quality health foods. With cheers and good wishes, a smaller groupof one hundred fifty stakeholders from all levels, suppliers, Appreciative Inquiry
distributors, community leaders, financiers, and customers went into a four-day
strategy session to articulate a new and bold corporate dream. With the stories fromthe day before in mind, people were asked to dream: “What is the world calling us tobecome?" "What are those things about us that no matter how much we change, wewant to continue in our new and different future?"
After four days of appreciative analysis, planning, and articulation of three newstrategic business directions, the organization launched into the future with focus,
solidarity, and confidence. Six months later, record bottom-line figures of millions ofdollars are recorded; profits are up 200 percent. Co-CEOs Rodrigo Loures and Arthur
Lemme Netto attributed the dramatic results to two things:
1. Bringing the whole system into the planning process
2. Realizing that organizations are in fact “centers of human relatedness which thrive
when there is an appreciative eye—when people see the best in one another, when
they can dialogue their dreams and ultimate concerns in affirming ways, and when
they are connected in full voice to create not just new worlds but better worlds.”
These meetings and discussions with various stakeholders and collection of data
showed how as a system they were all dependent on each other to achieveorganizational objectives. Understanding and applying appreciative inquiry can affectthe influence and change process and approach organization problems through theprovision of skills and perspectives that are informed by thought that address thecontext, complexity and significance of organizational situations.

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Traditional Approach to Organizational Change vs Appreciative Inquiry
Figure 2. Problem Based questions versus Appreciative Inquiry Questions on
Education Reform
Problem Based Interview
AI Interview Approach
Main Focus: Problem Question

Main Focus: Discovery

1. In what ways does your understandingof the current education reform impact
your classroom instruction?

1. What do you appreciate most about theeducation reform? What aspects of theeducation reform do you feel encouragedto
use in the classroom?

2. What is your systematic approach toincorporating the strategies andstructures of the education reform inyour teaching?

2. Since the start of the education reform,
what
are some of the positive outcomes you
haveexperienced from using the strategies andstructures of the education reform in yourteaching?

Main Focus: Solution Questions

Main Focus: Dream

3.What measures can you employ toincreaseyour knowledge about language strategies
thatare aimed at developing student’s English
proficiency and help students actively
utilize the four language skills (listening,speaking, reading and writing) in theclassroom and throughout their lives by
the time of graduation?

3.I know you work extremely hard todevelop the student’s English proficiency
and help students actively utilize the four
language skills (listening, speaking,reading and writing). What could happen
that would make you feel fully engaged
and energized about the education reform
process?
What growth have you seen in your useof thestrategies and structures of the education
reform in your teaching?

4.How can you become a change agent
andmotivate other teachers to embrace the
BOE’s
effort of English education reform inorder tomeet the learning needs of the students?

4.What would it take to create change
and motivate other teachers to embrace
the English education reform in order tomeet the learning needs of the students?

A comparison of the interview questions in figure 1 highlights the opportunities thatcan be discovered and how improved practices can be implemented. Carefully
analyzing the questions shows that the problem-based questions though open-ended

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seems very narrow and can evoke a defensive response as seen in the sample groupmeeting. In the meeting Tina tried to justify her answers rather than proceeding along
a framework of inquiry. This reveals that the problem based interview is less likely toresult in individual or organizational improvement.
In contrast, the AI interview questions focus on the discovery and dream phases andopens the responder’s mind more by stimulating extensive reflecting thinking andmore creative responses. Additionally, the scope of the questions matches the needs
being addressed; the discoveries that are being pursued. Cooperrider & Whitney(2005) posits that the appreciative interview is grounded on discovery. At thediscovery phase every question is positive allowing people to study what makes them
the best, analyze and map their positive core and investigate their root causes ofsuccess.
Following the discovery phase is the dream phase and as seen in the formulated AI
questions, “interview stories and insights get put together to constructive use; people
listen carefully to moments of organizational life at its best and share images of theirhopes and dreams for their collective future” (Cooperrider & Whitney ,2005, p. 27).
These questions would generate images of possibility and potential. In the negotiation
process a positive attitude of AI would allow us to focus on “what we want for theeducation system in Japan” rather than “what we don't want”. Stakeholders will beable to work as a collaborative team, due to the influence of the organization’s need tosucceed, to identify aspirations and desired results that will create a compelling visionof the future using the best of the past and also inspires and challenges the status quo.
Cooperrider & Whitney (2005) adds that after the strategic focus or dream is
articulated attention is turned to developing the ideal organization (appreciative
organization), the design and destiny phase in relation to its world.
Conditions for Success
Questions one and two of the AI approach incorporates what Cooperrider & Whitney(2005) identifies as the “freedom to be known relationship” (p.56). The teachers aretreated beyond the role of just being a teacher to that of “human being” (p.56). The
teachers will therefore feel as part of a team equipped with the power to influencechange that will result in organizational improvement. The second freedom, thefreedom to be heard is highlighted in the third AI question. This question aids
listening and hearing and allows the teachers to recognize that they are appreciated,heard and recognized. The question highlights empathy, “I know you work extremely
hard to develop the student’s English proficiency and help students actively utilize thefour language skills…which is quite inviting and will prompt teachers to provide
information and ideas that can catapult change and improvements.
Furthermore, question four addresses the freedom to act with support. The AI
framework provides opportunities for employees to be free to act with support. The
teachers can recognize that others truly care about their work. This will then motivatethem to become cooperative and innovative whilst feeling safe to experiment.
Additionally, this drive will see them performing at optimal levels in the organizationand embracing the well needed change.

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Methodology: Organizational Description
AI’s Applicability: Shizuoka Prefectural Board of Education
The Prefectural Board of Education (BOE) is a representative council established tooversee matters related to education in accordance with the Act on the Organization
and Operation of Local Educational Administration in Japan (MEXT, 2017). The
main role of the BOE’s education center is to provide quality teacher training.
Currently, in increasing efficiency the center provides in-house training as opposed tooutsourcing for trainers which increases profit margins. The education center of the
BOE like most Japanese working environment predominantly has a culture thatsurrounds openness, therefore engraved in the organizational processes is anestablished culture of openness and collaboration. The education center provides arange of services which includes training rooms, meeting rooms, teacher-training
programs, test-recordings, administration support, ICT support, resource library andvideo conferencing.
The primary mission of the education center is to promote proper education in
response to changes in Article 1 of the Japanese society, Act on the Organization andOperation of Local Educational Administration which states that “Education must be
provided with the aim of fully developing the individual character… to cultivate apeople that is sound in mind and body and imbued with the qualities that arenecessary in the people who make up a peaceful and democratic nation and society”(MEXT, 2017).
The education center goals and strategies are based and focused on the understandingof its mission. Consequently, for example, it provides teachers with a broad general
education, training and development along with advanced knowledge and practical
instructional skills aimed at providing students with the best education. It persistently
seeks to provide continuing professional development for teachers and the wider
school community, operate as a meeting center for the local school community,
promote lifelong learning, conduct educational research and provide guidance on
specialist matters concerning education.
The education center has a productive team that works hard. This comprises ofindividuals who are intrinsically motivated, certified and knowledgeable about
educational practices globally. The entire staff are qualified trained teachers who are
now consultants with the BOE. There is also a variety of cutting-edge technology
ranging from computers to software that aids in the production of high quality andinteractive training seminars.
Findings
Using AI for Educational Reform Shizuoka Education Center
Developing the AI interview questions for the education center during the period(2017-2018) required immense thought and was no easy feat and required criticalthinking and reflection. According to Cooperrider & Whitney (2005) the AI interview
process generally follows the Appreciative Inquiry 4-D Process. The discovery phase,
which is the first phase in the model consists of participants interviewing each other

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and sharing stories about their peak experiences. The AI interview questions are
structured to address organizational issues and problems from a more constructive
perspective by reframing problem statements into statements that focuses on strengths
and successes. Bushe (2013) characteristics of AI interview questions was used as a
guide in ensuring the right path is followed. It was ensured that the questions were:•
surprising, causing people to reflect and think.
•
touching people’s heart and spirit.
•
forces to look at reality from varied perspectives.
When employees are open and cognizant of the AI approach powerful positive
questions can be asked for example at the Board of Education:•
What is our proudest achievement in the last year or two at the BOE?
•
What do we do or provide that is world class for our stakeholders, employees
and industry?
•
What new skill do we need to move forward as trainers?
•
How can we best meet the needs of teacher, employees and the schoolcommunity?
•
What strategic initiative would support our aspirations?
At the BOE these questions generated images of possibility and potential. In thenegotiation process a positive attitude of AI allowed us to focus on “what we want for
the BOE” rather than “what we don’t want”. We were able to work as a collaborative
team, since we were influenced by the organization’s need to succeed, to identify
aspirations and desired results that would create a compelling vision of the futureusing the best of the past and also inspires and challenges the status quo.
Discussion and Conclusion
AI is essentially a research method that seeks to unravel the strengths of theorganization and discover the organizational factors, that create success in the pastand then build on those factors to help the organization create a positive future.
Appreciative Inquiry is referred to as a both a philosophy and a methodology for
positive change. (Cooperrider & Whitney, 2005). AI can be considered an alternative
approach, framework or mindset that focuses on highlighting and affirming personal
success factors within an organization that is utilized with existing organizational
development interventions such as strategic planning, organizational design,
restructuring or project evaluations.
Appreciative Inquiry is a strengths-based approach to learning, change, planning andimplementation. Using AI as a process to reform education in Japan will produces
organizational learning opportunities and creates the conditions for a remarkable
implementation. Applying AI to organizational change involves the 4D cycle which
includes: Discovery, Dream, Design and Destiny. Through this process change canoccur. Through AI, educational transformation can occur as all stakeholders will be
involved in the 4D process hence they are involved in creating and implementing thetransformation based on personal and collective strength. Using AI will definitely
ensure that the purpose of reform which is to implement changes in English
education in order to improve the speaking proficiency of Japanese students isfulfilled.

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AI is so organized that it engages employees to recognize and co-create anorganization’s future. Understanding and applying appreciative inquiry can affect the
influence and change process as educational leaders and decision makers to approacheducational problems with skills and perspectives that are informed by thought that
address the context, complexity and significance of organizational situations. It
addresses organizational issues and problems from a more constructive perspective byreframing problem statements into statements that focuses on strengths and successes.
It is recommended that educational institutions in Japan get on board in utilizing thestrengths of AI. The Appreciative Inquiry process engages large groups of people indialogue and deliberations about their individual and collective strengths, their hopes
and dreams for the future, as well as opportunities and plans for collaborative action.
Acknowledgements
The very valuable feedback from the editor-in-chief and the anonymous reviewers is
gratefully acknowledged. Special thanks to my mother Catherine Johnson for the
motivation to complete this study. To my father Lawrence Jackson (Snr.) for
nurturing the change agent in me and to my husband Mr. Dwayne Coulthurst for all
the support throughout this study.

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References
Bushe. G.R. (2013), Generative process, generative outcome: The transformational
potential of appreciative inquiry, in D.L. Cooperrider, D.P. Zandee, L.N. Godwin, M.
Avital & B. Boland (eds.) Organizational Generativity: The Appreciative Inquiry
Summit and a Scholarship of Transformation (Advances in Appreciative Inquiry,
Volume 4), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 89-113.
Cooperrider, D. L., & Whitney, D. (2005). Appreciative inquiry: A positive revolution
in change. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
English First (2017). English ability Index Japan Retrieved fromhttps://www.efjapan.co.jp/
MEXT. (2019). Basic Act on Education. Retrieved
from http://www.mext.go.jp/en/policy/education/lawandplan/title01/detail01/13737
98.htmMEXT. (2017). Basic Act on Education. Retrieved
from http://www.mext.go.jp/en/policy/education/lawandplan/title01/detail01/13737
98.htmVogt, E., Brown, J., and Issacs, D. (2003). The Art of powerful questions: Catalyzing
insight, innovation, and action. Whole Systems Associates: Mill Valley, CA.
Watkins, J., & Mohr, B. (2001). Appreciative Inquiry: Change at the Speed of
Imagination. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
Contact email: l-jackson@u-keiai.ac.jp

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