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The Pseudo Knowledges of Intercultural Communication

Author(s): Daniela Nadia Macovei / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Since mentality is defined as a mode of thinking, it results that a number of paradigms and mechanisms are at use. These are meant to create what runs under the name of ‘reality’. Thus, if a certain mentality is to be changed, it is the process of the construction of this reality that needs to be investigated, understood and, ultimately, altered. In Homi Bhabha’s words, ‘counter knowledges’ are built ‘in medias res’1[p22]. By this, one is to acknowledge that the endeavor is inherently difficult for it needs one to be in the middle of the events and notice the dynamics of the entire working while, at the same time, being able to interfere in it in order to bring about the adjustments wanted. Orientalism is but one of the most prominent cultural and communicational systems of the last centuries that has had a dramatic impact in the global economy of cultural communications. It is this one that the present article will explore while simultaneously presenting counter point reactions to it.

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Alienation and Anomie – the Perverse Effects of Social Empowerment

Author(s): Mihail Rarita / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

With modernity, artificiality is developed: people become aware of the fact that society does not represent a natural grant, a gift from God, but the product of their own actions. On the one side, as a counterweight of artificiality, the modern individuals have uncovered the strength of the social empowerment. They “put” society “in motion”, but their actions and reactions trigger unexpected effects, they multiply, interfere and they develop their own dynamics which contributes inevitably to the empowerment of the processes that they have started. The individuals lose any control they have had over society, and their interventions have unwanted results. Because of its inert artificiality and its structural opacity, society appears to humans as “a second nature” that opposes their plans and that imposes certain constraints. This is the classical theme of alienation: human products become objectified, are dehumanized and end up by opposing their own creators. These alienation phenomena can be connected to the concept of anomie, defined as the distinction between the objective situation generated by the weakening of the normative rules from a certain society and the subjective feeling of confusion and ignorance regarding the means to action, causing thus anxiety. In this article our main focus is to emphasize two well established orientations from which inevitably start all present day approaches related to alienation and anomie in interpreting the effects of the social empowerment. More precisely, we will look on Marx’s alienation theory which emphasizes the human’s impossibility to control his social relationships, and also his estrangement from society (it appears to him as a foreign and hostile power). Instead, Durkheim – who is the creator of the term anomie – lays emphasis on the fact that society in itself has reduced the means to control the individual and his actions.

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The Extraterrestrial Environment – an Axiological Perspective

Author(s): Lucian Mocrei Rebrean / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Through human exploration the extraterrestrial space becomes more and more the subject of an anthropological debate. The purpose of this article is to connect axiological thinking with the ethics of human activities related to space exploration. In this context, when debating upon the ability of natural objects to possess value, the distinction between the source of value and the object of value or the “locus” of value is essential. If we deliberate strictly in favour of the valorising subject, the exterior nature is always in danger of losing its intrinsic value. Only to the extent that natural objects are values in themselves, regardless if any human subject is valorising them, the so-called naturalistic fallacy in locating value, the confusion between its source and object can be prevented from the start. These difficulties can be surmounted by stating that all value, human and nonhuman is ontologically located within the natural world. The existence of a plurality of irreducible values makes it possible for judgements of value to be justified independently of the appeal to human preferences. The concept of intrinsic value can be directly attributed to entities belonging to extraterrestrial nature only provided we accept that intrinsic values can be both concrete and plural. Seen through the prism of an objectivist meta-ethics, extraterrestrial space can be described as a new environment where values subsist without any reference to human valorisation/experimentation, awaiting their exploration and discovery.

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The Human Body – Between Past and Present, the New Self and Body-Self

Author(s): Constantin Pehoiu,Cristian Florian Savu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The body was both subject and object of the study, analysis and discussion over time for scientists, if we accept the idea that they were at the beginnings of humanity. This statement is supported by the many written and unwritten sources, possibilities to perform movements were the main factor in meeting the necessities of biological, physiological, spiritual, and entertainment specific to humans. Practice of physical exercises to train body image reached the current stage of development of society is the result of multiple determinations, of which seems necessary to highlight the importance of three ones: continued development of formal and non-formal, creating free time as permanent social reality, intense movement and changing specific values of the phenomenon, supported by modern conditions of civilization. Thus, we find that today many individuals of both genders are unsatisfied by their physical appearance, in particular by the size and shape of own bodies. From this point of view it is to distinguish women who are most concerned to change this, most often through diet or using extreme methods of weight control, including starvation, elimination of voluntary food intake, diuretics or laxative abuse and applying exercise programs incompatible with their preparation. This paper aims to demonstrate that physical activity, carried out systematically through a fitness program, contributes directly to the improvement of the structure and functions of various organs and systems of the body. This approach of the problem leads mostly to eat disorder incidence much higher among them than men, which means that it is useful image issues of the body and nutrition lie on a continuum, depending on their severity.

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An Alternative to Post-Humanism: Neo-Humanism. The Argument of Consciousness Singularity

Author(s): Viorel Rotilă / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Due to development of science we are in the situation of an intervention in the complex area of nature without being able to yet identify the inflection point from which the artificial created by the natural man becomes in turn natural. Perhaps this is just another strong sense of singularity, Consciousness Singularity (CS) is the key moment of this transition. By CS we understand the ability of a consciousness to understand what consciousness is. It is to know in a scientific sense, that brings along prediction with it, the possibility to create a consciousness, finalizing the status of human creator. Instead of the leap assumed by TS the key challenge is the “revolution of consciousness”, generated by the new understanding of humanity brought along by CS. Most of the arguments in favour of Technological Singularity (TS) involves the possibility of a qualitative leap based on the quantitative accumulation, missing the problem represented by the knowledge of consciousness. We cannot predict the time / period when the CS occurs or provide strong arguments for the burst of the CS. We think, however, that TS assumes CS. Namely, that the debate about TS is really about CS. The prediction of CS consequences is impossible. The study of consciousness inevitably changes the human’s image and that of the society, finally resulting in the redefining of humanity. Contrary to many expectations emerged on the marketplace of ideas, it is not the switch to trans-humanism the one that will characterize such a change, but the redefining of the humane. Not the post-humanism, but the new humanism is the social-moral objective of the socio-moral consciousness research results. The main feature of the humane is the all-humane: the tendency of people to remain within the humanity regardless of the severity of the practiced behaviours.

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Social Effects of Consciousness Theory: Redefining Responsibility according to the existence of the Free Will

Author(s): Viorel Rotilă / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The hypothesis of the dependence of our actions on the biological structure of the brain, where a large part of the illegal or immoral actions become explicable through biological or physiological abnormalities, risks throwing into the air both the doctrine of free will and the justification of punishment. At present, the whole system of rules seems to be built on a misunderstanding of the self, and it also affects the presumption of others’ freedom of will. There is evidence that casts doubt on the causal power of consciousness over our actions. The existence of free will seems conditioned by cognitive competence, which most often acquires the image of moral competence. The unequal distribution of cognitive skills affects the free will, so the problem of responsibility. The question of the extent of the avoidable injustice maintained by the legal system becomes legitimate in the context of the lack of adaptation of the legal norms to the new data of science. The neuroscience implications on human responsibility are discussed, opening up one of the contemporary issues: legitimacy of punishment. It is one of the points where science risks demolishing the old social rules, bringing into question the need for strong re-adaptations of the various social sciences in tune with the new discoveries, the moral and the law being at the forefront of change. If the definition of fault is dependent on the possibilities of science then the absence of social diligence in favour of science is a fault of the society. The major problem of scientific interventions in the area of social complexity is the inability to predict their effects, implying the assuming of the risks inherent to the exit from the safety generated by the traditional social solutions, prudence being indicated. The post-humane, trans-humane, super-human, etc. all bring fears upon a humanity that has turned human rationality into the supreme point of orientation of morality and equality into one of the principles of ordering activity. The discussion is about the revolution of the social design of the research on consciousness, the re-establishment of the humane and of the social, namely a new humanism.

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Volunteering: Interest or Altruism?

Author(s): Delia Elena Rusu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This paper focuses on how volunteering is seen by youth with ages between 18 and 26 years, from Iasi, Romania. Is volunteering 100% how its simple definition sustains (such as a non-mandatory type of work that comes into supporting a part of society’s needs through helping organizations in their activities) or is it a mask of a most specific interest (such as gaining experience for ones field of study, making friends or developing abilities)? Either way, we may conclude that perhaps no matter the reasons why volunteering is practiced – it brings value to a society’s endeavour to motivate its youth to persevere in its activities and for them to involve as much as possible in order for its demarche to be uphold to progress. A micro-research-study (with data collected and analyzed from 5 focus-groups) has been conducted for disclosure the main reasons of volunteering for youth from the present time. This micro-study is incorporated in a larger and more complex research that is still ongoing.

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Gender Differences in Teenagers’ Perceptions and Attitudes toward Sciences

Author(s): Elena-Ancuţa Santi,Gabriel Gorghiu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The adolescence represents a significant period in the life of an individual, characterized by rapid transformations and evolutions, where new experiences are faced and lived – practically, the most complex stage on the road to maturity. In general, the dynamics of this age is marked by deep crisis, by internal and external conflicts, emerged in the attempts to discover the self-identity. Studies on gender differences in adolescence are focused on issues concerning the formation of self-identity, self-esteem, appearance of crisis that marks this stage and ways to overcome them on educational performance and school success, but also on the existed options of choosing a career or crystalizing the future profession. Differences in the perception and attitude of male and female adolescents are important in terms of discovering the mechanisms that favor to achieve outstanding results, which may generate interest for major topics and motivational support for specific activities. But when Science area (even in the traditional format of Physics-Chemistry-Biology) is presented to adolescences, it seems that it cannot be said that Science peak their interest, being qualified as having rather a negative image for most of them. In this sense, the aim of the paper is to highlight the teen-agers’ perception and their attitude towards scientific activities, taking into account the gender variable, considering the designing of appropriate learning opportunities in relation to students’ interests and particularities. The analysis was performed following the feed-back expressed by 185 high-school students (11th and 12th grades), before the classroom interventions of inquire-based science teaching modules designed in the frame of the European FP7 Project entitled: “PROFILES – Professional Reflection Oriented Focus on Inquiry-based Learning and Education through Science”.

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Optimization, Communication and Relationship in Teaching Process

Author(s): Oana Atomei / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Communication is the core activity of the teacher-students, students-students groups. The teaching process requires the involvement of these socio-educational actors and continuous interaction between them. While the teacher provides information, the student builds his message on the basis of the information received, which, in part, will be returned to the teacher. In the teaching process, the student should provide feedback to the teacher to demonstrate that the message has been clearly perceived and understood and that communication purpose has been reached. In turn, the teacher should provide feedback to the student to show him that he answered according to the expectations, the answer was specific and not general. In schools, students are in a permanent process of interaction, relationship with other students or teaching staff. As a result, new situations that arise through ignorance, lack of communication or an inadequate approach can lead to an installation of complex (inferiority or superiority), inhibitions etc., that hamper the development of a harmonious, balanced and assertive personality. One can overcome the internal obstacles (emotion, misperception, global approaches, stereotypes, lack of basic knowledge) through an efficient relationship in the teaching process which emphasises teacher’s permanent adaptation to a situation or context which has to be known and controlled for an efficient educational process.

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The Role, Importance and Equipment of Nutrition Laboratory in School

Author(s): Oana Atomei / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In the Romanian school healthy eating is promoted in optional classes, counseling classes and educational projects. Therefore, it is useful to have a space for nutrition education (preventive nutrition) classes. Nutrition laboratory becomes a place where not only healthy eating is promoted, but also, through creative and fun culinary activities, it provides students the opportunity to learn about proper food preparation, food safety, servings, and correct association of food in menus. Nutrition education classes may take place in any classroom, but if the activities take place in a specially arranged and properly equipped classroom, the impact on students will be higher. Gastronomy laboratory in some technology high schools can form the basis of nutrition laboratory. The improvement consists in a proper classroom arrangement, in addition to special designed space for food preparation (kitchen). Its organization is based on the level of education (primary, secondary) and according to the proposed theme areas: basics of nutrition, food safety etc. Food questionnaires and food diaries, approved height and weight scales, 2000 CDC growth charts, dietary guidelines and food labels, kitchen scales, recipes, menus and diets, tables for recommended number of servings, tables for daily needs of fluids, calories and nutrients, tables for nutrition fact of foods, and lists of educational resources become useful tools in assessing nutritional status and in promoting healthy eating.

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A Comparative Analysis of the Moodle and Edx Educational Platforms from a Tutor-Student Perspective

Author(s): Mihai Bizoi,Ana-Maria Suduc,Laura Monica Gorghiu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Traditional eLearning platforms are teacher centred and do not allow open and free access to education. To follow a course on a traditional platform the students must have a certain profile (knowledge background) and, at the end, they obtain new knowledge / abilities / competences. In 2011-2012 have been developed the first MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) platforms with the aim to vastly increase access to education. The MOOC platforms have some differences compared to traditional eLearning platforms: the number of students in a course can be very high (tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands), the role of the tutor is less significant, the learning assessment is based on surveys and peer assessments and courses may be enriched with multimedia and hypermedia materials. Among MOOC platforms, open edX is a very popular platform developed by a consortium of universities from USA. Due to the fact, this platform can be installed for free, it is under continuous development, scalable and well documented, it has been chosen for many educational projects. This paper presents a comparative analysis between a traditional learning platform (Moodle) and a MOOC platform (open edX) taking into consideration the data achieved in four educational projects.

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The Role of Active-Participative Methods in the Teaching and Learning of Morphology in Primary School

Author(s): Cristina Loredana Bloju / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

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Educational Potential of Ukrainian Children’s Literature of Canada

Author(s): Antonina Bohdanyuk / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The lack of a comprehensive research of the educational potential of art works of the Ukrainian-Canadian children’s writers preconditioned the topicality of the research. The purpose of the study is, basing on a holistic analysis of the development of the Ukrainian-Canadian educational thought in the second half of the twentieth century, to clarify its role in shaping the educational potential of the Ukrainian children’s literature in Canada. Methods of the investigation include: analysis of the domestic and foreign scientific and fiction literature on the studied problem; classification and generalization of archival sources; comparison and historical-genetic analysis of the preconditions of the origin and development of the Ukrainian educational thought and children’s literature in Canada; personalistic and biographical, thematic-ideological and socio-pedagogical analysis of literary works of the Ukrainian writers of Canada; theoretical generalization of the research results and drawing conclusions. The article deals with the activity of ULWCY (Ukrainian Literature Workers for Children and Youth). It reflects literary work of the Ukrainian-Canadian writers, in a civilized manner-elucidative activity and education of rising generations of Canadian Ukrainians. Scientific novelty of the results lies in the fact that little-known works of Ukrainian teachers and literature scholars of Canada in the second half of the twentieth century were introduced into the scientific use for the first time. The practical complement to the theoretical study was a published textbook “Pearls of creativity: Ukrainian children literature of the Ukrainians from abroad”, which contains biographies and works of the Ukrainian diaspora writers.

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The Didactics of the Curricular Area of Language and Communication: a Model For a Transdisciplinary Approach

Author(s): Ioana Boghian / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The need to transgress the borders of more or less related disciplines has emerged since the 1970s when the term ‘transdisciplinarity’ began to be used by researchers such as Jean Piaget (1972), Edgar Morin (1997) and Eric Jantsch (1972). A relevant contribution to the definition of the concept of trandisciplinarity belongs to the Romanian-French researcher Basarab Nicolescu (1999). We shall approach the concept of transdisciplinarity in relation to the didactics of the disciplines from the curricular area of Language and Communication, namely the teaching of the Romanian language (as mother tongue), and the English and French languages (as second, respectively third languages), in the Romanian pre-university educational system. Our aim is to propose a model for a transdisciplinary approach to teaching the Romanian, English and French languages so that these disciplines may become more appealing to students. The model will relate not only to the competences characteristic of each discipline, but also to the transversal competences established in compliance with the EU regulations. We shall focus on teaching-learning-evaluation methods that promote transdisciplinarity among these three disciplines.

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Parenting Style of Emotions Socialization. Theoretic Models and Measurement Instruments

Author(s): Liliana Bujor / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

One of the most important social contexts in which the meaningful emotional experiences of a child are built is family. The parent’s responses at the child’s emotions, the family’s emotional climate and the inter-parental relationships are the main factors identified by the theory and practice regarding the emotions socialization within family context (Fosco & Grycg, 2012).Direct emotions socialization is done by parents’ reactions at the children emotions. These supportive or non-supportive reactions, become transferable into the child’s emotional life who, afterwards, manifests them behavioural in relation to itself and the others, depending on the emotional impact of the situations he confronts with. The sensitive, supportive and receptive parents’ reactions to the child’s emotional experiences creates an adequate context for learning the adjustment emotional control skills and the emotional response. Although the subject of emotions socialization presents importance and is relevant in many fields of psychology, there are little studies which examined the specific negative and positive emotions socialization (e.g. fear, fury, happiness), separately by mother and father (Root & Denham, 2010). The present paper synthesizes a series of theoretical models for emotions socialization in family context and present a quantification instrument which operationalizes the mother’s respectively the father’s answers to the internalizing and externalizing emotions of the child.

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Integrating Food Education in Everyday Life of Young People

Author(s): Claudia Lavinia Buruleanu,Laura Monica Gorghiu,Gabriel Gorghiu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Nutrition and food education measuresshould be applied starting from early education, in order to encourage and to sustain the adoption of healthy and sustainable diets, which will materialize in the citizens’ quality of life and society welfare. These measures should primarily be targeted at students both during the formal and informal activities. Theoretical aspects learned in the framework of the lessons in classrooms can be well integrated in practical educational approaches, based on meaningful experiences, which increases overall effectiveness.Science snacks laboratories and Cooking laboratories were proposed to the primary and secondary level students, in close cooperation with the higher education students, with the aim to: achieve practical skills; better understand what means ‘’nutrients’’ and how they influence the people life; urge them to think every day life on their dietary choices; better understand the messages of the label related to a certain food; sustain the transgenerational education and improve the communication and the networks creation among the young people; give the first information concerning the entrepreneurship in food production as viable solution for the family prosperity in economical and work satisfaction terms; to draw them near to a career in science and technique.The production of food was the response of the Needs Analysis, being a request of the students from all the six countries of the EduforHealth partnership. The young people enthusiasm and the knowledge acquired were to a great extent, encouraging the teachers to sustain the increasing of the number of practical activities in school education.The particular case of implementation in Romania is described below.

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The Nature of Sociotherapeutic Influence at the St. Anna’s Brotherhood in Staszow (Poland)

Author(s): Slawomir Chrost / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Nowadays, the situation of some Polish families is very difficult. Poverty, unemployment, all sorts of addictions, violence, no future perspectives, lack of appropriate role models and help penetrate each other becoming the cause and effect of pathological behaviors. Children – usually innocent and helpless – consequently become the victims of social isolation.The institution supporting families in those situations is the St. Anna’s Brotherhood in Staszow (Poland). The paper presents the main objectives of the fraternity, programs and daily work (a set of caring, upbringing and therapeutic actions; an example of sociotherapeutic classes held at St. Anna’s Brotherhood).

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Non-formal and Informal Education Activities in Teaching Romanian as a Foreign Language

Author(s): Ileana-Silvia Ciornei / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Education is defined as an institutional organized activity with educational finalities having three fundamental forms: formal, non-formal and informal education. Formal education is a structured activity whose explicit purpose is teaching students in a school environment. Non-formal learning is a planned activity, with learning objectives and different duration which does not follow a curriculum or lead to certification. Informal learning is defined as learning resulting from daily life activities related to work, family or leisure, not organized in terms of objectives, time and learning support, in most cases unintentional from the learner’s perspective. Communication in foreign languages also is related to key competences such as competence in foreign languages, social and civic competences and cultural awareness and expression. It is very important for learners who study a foreign language to experience real communicative situations in order to develop their language proficiency. Non-formal and informal education activities create the opportunities for the international students who learn Romanian to interact in ways that allow developing knowledge and skills. The activities organized with the international students develop in many directions- Christmas and Easter events, meetings with Romanian students, The International Student’s Day, the Scientific Conference and extra mural activities. We may affirm that these types of educational activities play an important role in the learning of Romanian language by the students in the Preparatory year. Despite certain disadvantages, they help to develop social relationships, to improve cross-cultural and language skills and contribute to personal fulfillment and future social inclusion in the Romanian society.

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Communication Skill Formation at Mentally Disabled Children

Author(s): Margareta Cîrligeanu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Communicative skill formation at mentally disable students becomes possible to be achieved be teaching/learning/assessment of disciplines and solicits on one hand, formation of capacities, skills, habits, abilities, attitudes at didactic process level, and on the other side, developing the relational behaviours, in this way, students’ integration in a modern society. From this perspective the communication skill formation at mentally disabled students that have become an objective of theoretical and praxiologic studies, the actuality of the research being confirmed by the necessity of components specification and elaboration of a methodological step of didactic communicative skill formation. The main approached directions in the research from the didactic communication domain in general, of communication skills at mentally disabled students especially, target the communicative behaviour formation by diverse strategies of educational interaction. This situation generates the research problem that consists in identification the components of communication skill in the context of modern educational concept of the pre-university education reform and of theoretical-experimental markers of communicative skill formation in the didactic communication skill.Among the main objectives of research we enumerate: determining the theoretical markers of didactic communication skill concept; elaboration of communication skill model at mentally disabled students and the formation aims for the communication skill; elaboration of curricular step of didactic communication skill formation at mentally disabled students. The research methodology will include pedagogical methods (scientific documentation, observation, sounding, mentally disabled students’ products from their activities, comparison, observation charts).

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The Importance of School-Family-Students with Mental Disabilities Partnership

Author(s): Margareta Cîrligeanu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

From the human rights perspective, the problem of educational and social integration at students with any type of deficiency is considered essential for the promotion in the entire educational system, in school, in lesson, of democratic principle of equality of chances. Therefore, educational integration of students with mental disabilities becomes one of the most actual psycho-pedagogical and social problems being in the specialists’ objectives. That’s why, for the success of school participation it is important the family commitment and responsibility in children’s education, especially at students with mental disabilities, where the parents’ degree of interest and collaboration with school is the most often directly proportional with the school results obtained by their children. In order to communicate and collaborate efficiently, students and parents base themselves on some elements: respect (mutual), which can be often modelled by the teaching staff; it is important to start from the premises that parents are the most important teachers in their child’s life; impartial attitude, that solicits positive thinking and open to families, avoidance of evaluative and disapproving judgements; empathy towards parent attitude, can be easily observed by this one by opening to dialogue and sincere, sensitive communication. The purpose of the research is constituted by the scientific assessment of families’ involvement in amelioration of education of students with mental disabilities, and the methodology of scientific research is determined by the object specificity and research purpose: scientific documentation, official documents analysis; comparison, observation, data collection.

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