Eight deaf scholars come together to reflect on their experiences with exclusionary practices in the academy that contribute to feelings of imposterism, otherness, and not-belonging. The combined powers of ableism, audism, and negative attitudes about signed languages generate tension as deaf academics affirm their place within higher education institutions and fields of research. Across individual and shared experiences, they narrate about hostility towards disability and sign languages, reflecting on how such hostilities work towards excluding signing deaf scholars. As disability rights legislation increased access for deaf academics, gaps exist in which ableism continues to function as an institutional barrier. In spite of exclusionary practices and negative attitudes, deaf academics have organized ways to be resilient as they argue they make valuable contributions to scholarly discourses.
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Background: In the Netherlands, most of the academic curricula for teacher training in religious education (RE) focus on shortfalls of students, like a lack of knowledge about the plurality of worldviews and the diversity in interpretations of the Christian tradition. In our research project, the focus is not on the students, but on the university professors and lecturers who teach the subject of RE: professors and lecturers who train and educate students to teach RE. Aim: The main aim of the project was to gain a better insight into the inherent complexity of the professionalism of academics, that is, their own positionality in the plurality of the Roman Catholic traditions they adhere to in relation to their capabilities and commitment to the current curriculum – the ‘old’ one – and the new curriculum to be developed, in the context of the Dutch plural society. Setting: Respondents in this research were university professors and lecturers of the Teacher Training Institute of Tilburg University, located at Utrecht, the Netherlands. Methods: For this investigation, we used a research instrument based on the dialogical self theory and its self confrontation method for organisations to gain insight into professionals’ own and their colleagues’ positionality regarding teaching RE. Results: Preliminary results show that the self confrontation method for organisations has shown itself to be a challenging instrument to invite academics involved in the process of data construction and data analysis. Conclusion: Based on these results, we recommend to include the research population in a validation process to increase the sustainability of the results and to maximise engagement in the implementation phase of the new curriculum.
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Poor work-life balance (WLB) has been linked to negative outcomes such as increased stress, anxiety, depression, and a perceived reduction in the overall quality of life. At an institutional level, these may include lowered employee commitment and decreased productivity at work. The advent of COVID-19 has necessitated fundamental alterations to work experience and the ways in which WLB may be perceived. This phenomenological study employed qualitative, in-depth interviews to explore higher education academics’ lived experiences of remote working and how they perceived this had impacted their well-being (WB) and WLB. Using purposive samplings, respondents were drawn from HE sectors in the Netherlands, and the UK. The findings offered an understanding of how remote and hybrid teaching delivery during the pandemic affected academics’ actual experiences of WB and WLB. These findings serve to enhance policymakers’ understandings of significant occupational health and WB issues within a post-pandemic education service paradigm.
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Het MADS-project brengt zeven universiteiten uit Europa en het Verenigd Koninkrijk samen met als doel een nieuw internationaal gezamenlijk masterprogramma Applied Deaf Studies (MADS) op te zetten. Het project wordt geleid door de Hogeschool Utrecht. Volkshogeschool Castberggård in Denemarken is betrokken als niet-academische partner. Het project wordt gefinancierd door de Erasmus Mundus Design Measure, die valt onder het Erasmus+ programma. Alle betrokken academici in het project zijn doof, waardoor het het grootste door doven geleide academische consortium ooit is.Doel MADS heeft tot doel drie belangrijke lacunes op het gebied van Deaf Studies aan te pakken: Gebrek aan beschikbare onderwijsmogelijkheden op Master niveau: ondanks significante vooruitgang op het gebied van Deaf Studies de afgelopen jaren, is er een gebrek aan overeenkomstige groei in onderwijsprogramma’s. Momenteel is er geen masterprogramma Deaf Studies in het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Europa. Gebrek aan verbinding tussen onderzoek en praktijk: onderzoeksresultaten in Deaf Studies moeten worden toegepast op praktische gebieden zoals belangenbehartiging, onderwijs, onderzoek en dienstverlening. Daarom is het de bedoeling dat MADS een programma wordt in Applied Deaf Studies, om studenten uit te rusten met vaardigheden voor de professionele praktijk, zodat onderzoeksresultaten bijdragen aan oplossingen in de echte wereld. Gebrek aan toegang voor dove studenten tot programma's Deaf Studies: hoewel het programma open zal staan voor alle studenten, streeft MADS specifiek naar werving van dove studenten wereldwijd. Dove studenten hebben traditioneel meer barrières en minder kansen gehad om hoger onderwijs te volgen, met name in programma's Deaf Studies. In april 2023 organiseerde het MADS consortium een workshop samen met de Frontrunners studenten en leerkrachten aan Castberggård in Denemarken. Daar werd onder meer curriculumontwikkeling besproken, en de structuur en opzet van een mogelijke Master. In 2023 zullen er ook nog presentaties en workshops zijn op het Wereld Congres van de Werelddovenfederatie in Jeju, Zuid-Korea, en op de International Deaf Academics and Researchers conference in Wenen, Oostenrijk. Van 11-15 december organiseren we een Applied Deaf Studies Taster Week in Ål, Noorwegen. Meer informatie volgt. Resultaten Aan het einde van het project is het doel: Zijn de universiteiten geïdentificeerd die MADS gaan aanbieden. Is een nieuw, innovatief geïntegreerd transnationaal studieprogramma ontwikkeld. Zijn er een gezamenlijk accreditatiesysteem en gezamenlijke procedures voor studentenaanmelding en toelating opgezet. Looptijd 01 november 2022 - 31 januari 2024 Aanpak Het huidige MADS-project voert een behoefteanalyse uit onder potentiële studenten en organisaties in het werkveld, met als doel curriculumontwikkeling. Impact voor het onderwijs Dit project dicht de kloof tussen Deaf Studies onderzoek, dat exponentieel gegroeid is de laatste 10 jaar, en toepassingen van dit onderzoek in de beroepspraktijk, en het onderwijs. We willen bereiken dat nieuw onderzoek in Deaf Studies de vertaalslag maakt naar het onderwijs, en naar de beroepspraktijk. Cofinanciering Het onderzoek wordt medegefinancierd door Erasmus Mundus Design Measure (Erasmus +). Downloads en links
Automating logistics/agrifood vehicles requires dependable, accurate positioning. Automated vehicles, or mobile robots, constantly need to know their exact position to follow the trajectories required to perform their tasks. Precise outdoor localization is helped by the increased price/performance ratio of RTK-GNSS solutions. However, this technology is sensitive to signal deterioration by e.g. biomass and large structures like poles/buildings. Robust localization requires additional localization technologies. Several absolute and relative positioning technologies exist and available sensor fusion solutions allow for combining these technologies. However, robot developers require modularity, and no integral solutions exist. Commercial solutions are either customized or high-priced testing solutions. Academics mainly propose specific sensing combinations and lack industrial applicability. Market demand articulation expresses the need for redundancy besides modularity, both for vehicle safety and system resilience, referring to the current geopolitical GPS jamming reality. MAPS aims for an open-source, ROS2-based, multi-modal, robust and modular localization solution for outdoor logistics and agrifood applications, enabling dependable and safe vehicle automation, allowing both sectors to handle labor shortages, introduce durable solutions and enhance resilience. MAPS focuses on a sensor fusion approach allowing modularity, with integrated redundancy. It includes online confidence level estimation, supporting both continuous fusion and modality switching, aiming for location/situation aware behavior and allowing for market-requested hybrid in-vehicle/infra solutions. MAPS intents to maximally utilize the consortium’s vehicle dynamics knowledge - including vehicle-(soft)soil interaction - in the solution for plausibility and dead reckoning. An accompanying PhD/EngD research is foreseen. With project partners enabling scalable, industry-grade solutions MAPS aims to bridge the gap between academic-level research and market-desired applicability. MAPS is independent, though aims to cooperate with AIFusIOn from Saxion on re-usable architectures and integration of AIFusIOn specifics, like AI-based situational awareness and indoor-outdoor switching, if both are granted.
The increasing concentration of people in urban environments in an era of globalisation means that social, economic, and environmental resources for living and working are under pressure. Urban communities experience increased stress levels due to inadequate and overburdened infrastructure and services, challenges due to ethnic and cultural diversity, socio-economic inequalities as well as the impact of environmental degradation. For these communities to build resilience under these circumstances therefore requires a multipronged approach. The underlying question this project will answer is: “What are the key characteristics of experiencescapes that contribute to resilience-building in communities?” The project will dive into the identification of building blocks of experiencescapes and roles of relevant actors that can support communities in building resilience. Within the context of a multidisciplinary approach, this project applies a range of qualitative research methods, such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, participant observation, storytelling techniques, life stories, as well as various biometric quantitative methods, available through the experience lab of BUas. The outcome of the project will enable practitioners and researchers alike in various sectors to understand what and how they can contribute to creating an environment in which people can meaningfully interact in a way that builds resilience in communities. This outcome is communicated not only through academic publications and conference contributions, but also through public reports and a handbook for practitioners and students. These reports and handbooks support identification and application of building blocks of experiencescapes that support building resilience in communities. Finally, the knowledge generated in the project will contribute to the development of curricula of various educational programmes at Breda University of Applied Sciences by expanding the scope of experience design into the area of people-to-people relationships.
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