title: Exhausted men: Making fatigue visible in The Metamorphosis and At Swim-Two-Birds

authors: Burnette, Jessie

subjects: Fatigue

abstract: Though not always immediately recognizable, fatigue and tiredness play a central role in modernist literature. As society placed increasing value on productive, strong, energetic bodies, the growing presence of bodies tired from the effects of overwork, rapid social progress, illness and post-war malaise posed a threat both to society and ideas of the 
able-bodied self. Recumbent bodies challenge expectations of productivity; they remindus of our own bodily fallibility and blur the line between life and death as a visual 
representation of our own mortality. Further, the fatigued body at rest is predominantly associated with the feminine, as has been reflected in much prior academic engagement 
with neurasthenic women in modernist literature. What then are the implications for fatigued men? This thesis traces the previously overlooked depictions and uses of fatigue in two texts that have been the subject of significant analysis: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O’Brien. Though neither of these texts are inherently medical in nature, I show how fatigue nonetheless plays a central role in each, albeit in quite different ways. By unpacking these contrasting engagements with fatigue and the simultaneous lack of critical interest in fatigue in these texts, I uncover stigmatizing social perceptions of fatigue as deviant, burdensome, and indicative of emasculating weakness. Further, such depictions seem to go unquestioned, suggesting that these beliefs are largely naturalized within Western society. In the current time of pandemic, as society is again increasingly confronted with very visible exhaustion in the form of Long Covid amongst other fatiguing conditions, modernist fiction from the early-twentieth century offers valuable insights into how we engage with fatigue.

text: Exhausted men: Making fatigue visible in The Metamorphosis and At Swim-Two-Birds Though not always immediately recognizable, fatigue and tiredness play a central role in modernist literature. As society placed increasing value on productive, strong, energetic bodies, the growing presence of bodies tired from the effects of overwork, rapid social progress, illness and post-war malaise posed a threat both to society and ideas of the 
able-bodied self. Recumbent bodies challenge expectations of productivity; they remindus of our own bodily fallibility and blur the line between life and death as a visual 
representation of our own mortality. Further, the fatigued body at rest is predominantly associated with the feminine, as has been reflected in much prior academic engagement 
with neurasthenic women in modernist literature. What then are the implications for fatigued men? This thesis traces the previously overlooked depictions and uses of fatigue in two texts that have been the subject of significant analysis: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O’Brien. Though neither of these texts are inherently medical in nature, I show how fatigue nonetheless plays a central role in each, albeit in quite different ways. By unpacking these contrasting engagements with fatigue and the simultaneous lack of critical interest in fatigue in these texts, I uncover stigmatizing social perceptions of fatigue as deviant, burdensome, and indicative of emasculating weakness. Further, such depictions seem to go unquestioned, suggesting that these beliefs are largely naturalized within Western society. In the current time of pandemic, as society is again increasingly confronted with very visible exhaustion in the form of Long Covid amongst other fatiguing conditions, modernist fiction from the early-twentieth century offers valuable insights into how we engage with fatigue.

year: 2023

title: The development of teacher self and collective efficacy through a research practice partnership project

authors: Edwards, Frances

abstract: This paper outlines the affordances provided through teacher engagement in an educational research partnership project for the development of teacher self-efficacy and collective teacher efficacy. Six teachers, previously involved in a successful two-year project, chose to commit to continuing to research and develop their practice. They agreed to focus on whole class teaching which was an area of interest for their community of schools. This qualitative study utilised audio recordings of workshops, and artefacts produced by these teachers. Data was analysed thematically. Findings show there was clear evidence of growing individual and collective teacher efficacy as teachers used common language and shared and analysed student data over time. The teachers also became more prominent in their role as teacher leaders and proactive and engaged in planning for student improvement within and across their schools. Factors that contributed to teacher self-efficacy and collective efficacy were identified. Implications for teachers and schools are discussed.

text: The development of teacher self and collective efficacy through a research practice partnership project This paper outlines the affordances provided through teacher engagement in an educational research partnership project for the development of teacher self-efficacy and collective teacher efficacy. Six teachers, previously involved in a successful two-year project, chose to commit to continuing to research and develop their practice. They agreed to focus on whole class teaching which was an area of interest for their community of schools. This qualitative study utilised audio recordings of workshops, and artefacts produced by these teachers. Data was analysed thematically. Findings show there was clear evidence of growing individual and collective teacher efficacy as teachers used common language and shared and analysed student data over time. The teachers also became more prominent in their role as teacher leaders and proactive and engaged in planning for student improvement within and across their schools. Factors that contributed to teacher self-efficacy and collective efficacy were identified. Implications for teachers and schools are discussed.

year: 2025

title: Overcoming ‘Being’ in Favour of Knowledge: The fixing effect of ‘mātauranga’

authors: Mika, Carl Te Hira

subjects: knowledge

abstract: It is common to hear Māori discuss primordial states of Being, yet in colonisation those very central beliefs are forced into weaker utterances. In this process those utterances merely conform to a colonised agenda. ‘Mātauranga’, a tidy term that overwhelmingly refers to an epistemological knowing of the world, colludes nicely with its English equivalent, ‘knowledge’, to further colonise those core contemplations of Being. Its plausibility relies on an orderly regard of things in the world. In education, historical and current practices of schooling pave the way for things in the world so that they amount to mātauranga for Māori, and even the term ‘ako’ will conspire in its own way. Both Novalis and Heidegger have the ability to identify subtly colonising philosophies, and may even propose some theoretical solutions for Māori.

text: Overcoming ‘Being’ in Favour of Knowledge: The fixing effect of ‘mātauranga’ It is common to hear Māori discuss primordial states of Being, yet in colonisation those very central beliefs are forced into weaker utterances. In this process those utterances merely conform to a colonised agenda. ‘Mātauranga’, a tidy term that overwhelmingly refers to an epistemological knowing of the world, colludes nicely with its English equivalent, ‘knowledge’, to further colonise those core contemplations of Being. Its plausibility relies on an orderly regard of things in the world. In education, historical and current practices of schooling pave the way for things in the world so that they amount to mātauranga for Māori, and even the term ‘ako’ will conspire in its own way. Both Novalis and Heidegger have the ability to identify subtly colonising philosophies, and may even propose some theoretical solutions for Māori.

year: 2012