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Item Open Access 300 AND FELLINI-SATYRICON: FILM THEORY IN THE TERTIARY CLASSROOMTHIN-FILM MATERIALS(Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, 2014) Glass, LeannePedagogical practices in Reception-based courses on ancient Greece and Rome in film often focus on an individual film’s connections to its historical themes and meta-narrative. In contrast, courses based on Film Studies often focus pedagogical discourses on filmic techniques or the filmmaking process per se. Regularly, the two approaches remain discrete and discipline-based. In view of this disjuncture in teaching approaches and foci, the intention of this paper is to explore the benefits of film theory, including its consideration of film technique, within Classical Reception courses. Therefore, the suggestion offered herein is that more emphasis on the pedagogies of Film Studies would provide an enhanced or richer understanding of cinematic interpretations and possibilities for the student of Classical Reception and film. To illustrate this pedagogical suggestion, a discussion of mainstream, Hollywood-style cinema as depicted by Zack Snyder’s 300 (2007), in contrast to the independent auteur-driven film, Federico Fellini’s Fellini-Satyricon (1969), is the focus. These two films provide the tertiary instructor with a variety of theoretical and technical considerations that are important learning components in a course on ancient Greece and Rome in film. Not only do the films enable the instructor to discuss concepts such as the auteur but also to introduce students to topics such as art-house and Hollywood studio filmmaking, which further introduces subjects such as “high” art versus popular culture. Additionally, focusing on two different styles of filmmaking and including an acknowledgment of each filmmaker’s objectives enables the tertiary instructor to explore other fields of inquiry that cover broader cultural issues such as class, race, gender, and sexuality. This, in turn, allows for a more informed interaction on specific cultural themes between the ancient and modern worlds as interpreted by the filmmakers.Item Open Access Abay’s Legacy to the Philosophy of Education(NUGSE Research in Education, 2017) Shon, PeterAs early as the nineteenth century, Abay Kunanbayev foresaw the need to adapt to the world being altered by the hands of geopolitical powers. Rather than to be swept away by the waves of colonial influences, he became the lonely voice in the wilderness urging the Kazakhs to become educated multi-lingually. Though Abay is revered as the country’s foremost philosopher and poet, his writings are mostly covered in secondary school Kazakh Literature courses; though often quoted, the work of Abay is seldom read in its entirety. In addition, information about the impact of his writings on present-day educators in Kazakhstan is lacking. The purpose of this paper is to describe and juxtapose the main ideas in Abay’s The Book of Words, first published in 1909, with various philosophers from the West to examine the relevance of his philosophy in today’s Kazakhstani society. This paper is a historical description which seeks to answer the metaphysical, epistemological, and pedagogical questions under the themes of man, knowledge, and education. This study will contribute to bringing a further spotlight on Abay, not only as a steppe philosopher and poet of the past, but as a philosopher in education for contemporary Kazakh society.Item Open Access ABILITY GROUPING IN KAZAKHSTANI EFL SECONDARY SCHOOL CLASSES(Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education, 2023) Ussenova, AyimThe ability grouping in Kazakhstani English as a Foreign Language (EFL) class is a process where a class is divided in two subgroups if class capacity is twenty-four or more students in both rural and urban schools. However, clear instructions of how to produce such divisions are not described and teachers are left to choose for themselves. This study's primary purpose is to study the teachers’ experiences of grouping students in Eng-lish classrooms and it provides a qualitative interview-based research approach, where a teacher from one sec-ondary school in Astana was selected through a purposeful maximal variation sampling strategy. The findings revealed practices of structuring English language programs in Kazakhstan. The use of mixed-ability groups is a key aspect, driven by the need to balance students' academic performance levels. Challenges arise when stu-dents with diverse learning experiences join a single class, emphasizing the teacher's role in navigating these differences. The study suggests that while mixed-ability groups have advantages, concerns about evaluating oral competency and potential conflicts among teachers underscore the complexity of class organization in Kazakh-stani EFL instruction.Item Open Access Academic mobility and the labor market(NUGSE Research in Education, 2016-06) Jumabayeva, ZhannaThe current study is aimed to better understand the concept of academic mobility and identify its labor market outcomes in the context of Kazakhstan. The paper considers whether mobility is an advantage for the domestic employment market and whether it enhances graduates’ employability. The researcher also investigates whether in Kazakhstan students’ participation in the international programs, particularly the Bolashak International Scholarship of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, affects their employment upon completion of their studies. This investigation indicates that increasingly large numbers of students continue to study abroad despite the lack of clear evidence supporting the gains graduates have in finding jobs. This suggests that students who return are not necessarily guaranteed with ideal jobs upon their graduation. Just because someone studied abroad, the competition for them does not disappear: work experience can have a higher priority. Hence, the results of this study showed that the Bolashak program is not always a ticket to a better future, at least in the short term.Item Open Access AFROSURREALISM, ARISTOTLE, AND RACIAL PRESENCE IN NETFLIX’S LUKE CAGE(Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, 2020) Mack, Angela D.This essay examines Netflix’s Luke Cage as a rhetorical reading of racial embodiment and productions of the cultural identity of Blackness and People of Color, and the tensions they produce to help audiences understand the current climatic flux between racial hostility and American idealism. With only two seasons in the small-screen version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Cheo Hodari Coker’s adaptation of the 1970s Blaxploitation Power Man comic foregrounded the recent wave of superhero narratives that expanded minority/gender representation from both major comic houses (MCU and DC Extended Universe [DCEU]). This examination employs the lens of Afrosurrealism, a conceptual framework of understanding Blackness through its many complex manifestations of cultural and aesthetic representations in art across time. It is through this Afrosurrealist concept where references to race such as “Black”, “Brown”, “White,” and “People of Color” are applied to describe specific people groups/collectives throughout this essay. Using Afrosurrealism, I argue that Luke Cage can be analyzed through Aristotle’s three species of rhetoric: the judicial rhetoric of the past, the epideictic rhetoric of the present, and the deliberative rhetoric of the future. By using these three rhetorical branches, this analysis demonstrates a diasporic reading of race with Harlem as its bridge to the “realms” of New York City and beyond. This reading of a Black superhero’s world, Luke Cage’s “Harlem World,” thus brings about an awareness of a necessary racial presence, resulting in a grounding of racial realities, that subverts an ideal post-racial afterlife in the post-Obama “American” universe. By understanding the show’s characters and the setting of Harlem as another type of Americana manifestation, an America that from its origin to its current iteration is constructed through race, we can continue to learn the significance of representation and how working through issues of race for African Americans and People of Color impacts everyone. If we continue to resist the racial tensions and realities in our social climate, then we run the risk of contributing to the racial issues we say we would like to help heal. Keywords: Luke Cage, race, rhetoric, Afrosurrealism, Aristotle, Marvel, MCUItem Open Access AMC’S INFAMOUS CRIMINAL PARTNERSHIPS: SUPPRESSING THE FEMALE ANTIHERO(Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, 2019) Vosen Callens, MelissaUsing a feminist lens, the author argues that audiences have failed to embrace female characters on AMC as antiheroes, particularly when they are in romantic relationships with male antiheroes, for three primary reasons. First, female characters often challenge binary thinking, and thus, gender role stereotypes. Rather than exhibiting passive, yet nurturing characteristics, characteristics often associated with femininity and motherhood, female characters within the dataset frequently challenge their partners and exert their dominance. Second, writers often fail to fully develop female characters. The absence of their backstories (who they are and what they are thinking) makes it difficult for audiences to relate to and sympathize with these characters. Finally, within the dataset, female characters are rarely viewed as equals in the eyes of their male partners, and the audience takes cues from this treatment. When female characters are childless and/or respected by their male partners, they are more widely accepted as antiheroes. In this paper, the author examines some of the most famous criminal antihero partnerships in the top-rated AMC series over the last decade: Walter and Skyler White (Breaking Bad), Rick and Lori Grimes / Rick Grimes and Michonne (The Walking Dead), Don and Betty Draper (Mad Men), and Saul Goodman and Kim Wexler (Better Call Saul). Following this critique, the broader cultural implications of these representations are offered, particularly the disempowerment of women through motherhood. Keywords: AMC, antihero, feminist criticism, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Walking Dead, Better Call SaulItem Open Access APPLICATIONS IN THE CLASSROOM: HARDLY ELEMENTARY — FRONTIERS FOR FRESHMAN COMPOSITION WITH CONAN DOYLE’S A STUDY IN SCARLET(Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, 2015) Donley, Kate M.Three recent television and film adaptations testify to the continuing popularity of Arthur Conan Doyle’s consulting detective Sherlock Holmes. The fast-paced novella that introduces detective duo Holmes and Watson, A Study in Scarlet involves some astonishing elements, and not just in the plot. With just a little probing, collegiate readers may wonder whether Conan Doyle plagiarized his most famous character, invented forensic science, despised Mormons, and accidentally wrote a Western. The novel was adapted as A Study in Pink, the first episode of the BBC’s series Sherlock created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. Their vision of Holmes set in present-day London will thrill students and also leave them wondering what happened to the second half of the novel. Beyond the predictable (yet exciting) classroom discussion topic of adaptation, A Study in Scarlet presents a rich context for research and discussion by challenging students’ modern-day notions of genre, historical truth, political correctness, and academic credibility. Although this novel is well-suited for high-level secondary or freshman composition classes, advanced students of English literature will find much to explore. This book analysis contains a summary of A Study in Scarlet with explication of its literary features and associated pedagogical issues for the freshman composition class. Topics for more advanced students are also identified. Instructors can make a free virtual casebook of ancillary readings with the Internet links provided. Keywords: college composition, first-year writing, freshman composition, Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlet, detective fiction, adaptation, pseudo-scholarship, fanfictionItem Open Access APPLYING STATISTICAL DATABASES ON EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH(Graduate School of Education, 2023) Alimkhanova Dinara, Drybrough Andrew G.This review presents information on international and national statistical databases that can be used for the purpose of educational research. Each database is derived from the websites and the authentic website source is provided through a hyperlink. These hyperlinks were accessible and working at the time of writing. Although most of these websites contain a range of types of data on different subject areas (e.g., economic and demographic statistics) each website has at least one section of data or research relating to education, or that might be of interest to the educational researcher. There are also some sites that may be of more specific interest to those involves in educational assessment. The analysis of each databases will cover two main aspects. First, there will be a short description of the statistical database. This is then followed by a brief analysis of that database that identifies the benefits and/or limitations of it. We begin by describing and analyzing the international education databases, followed by national educational databases of Kazakhstan. We have found these of use in our research and teaching, and hope that they can be of benefit to anyone who is interested in international educational research and educational research in Kazakhstan and the wider Central Asian region...Item Open Access BAD GIRLS: AGENCY, REVENGE, AND REDEMPTION IN CONTEMPORARY DRAMA(Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, 2019) Watson, CourtneyCultural movements including #TimesUp and #MeToo have contributed momentum to the demand for and development of smart, justified female criminal characters in contemporary television drama. These women are representations of shifting power dynamics, and they possess agency as they channel their desires and fury into success, redemption, and revenge. Building on works including Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl and Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, dramas produced since 2016—including The Handmaid’s Tale, Ozark, and Killing Eve—have featured the rise of women who use rule-breaking, rebellion, and crime to enact positive change. Keywords: #TimesUp, #MeToo, crime, television, drama, power, Margaret Atwood, revenge, Gone Girl, Orange is the New Black, The Handmaid’s Tale, Ozark, Killing EveItem Open Access Balancing life and studies in a classroom without walls: graduate students’ perspectives on online learning(NUGSE Research in Education, 2018-06) Akhmetova, DinaraTechnological advancements taking place in the 21st century are changing the ways in which classes are taught (Allen & Seaman, 2011). Education worldwide is reaching far beyond the four walls of classroom by offering courses online. This paper explores students’ perspectives on the quality of courses offered online by one Kazakhstani University, based on the advantages and challenges 12 master’s degree students faced while studying some courses online during two academic years of their enrollment. According to the results of this study, participants highlighted the flexibility of online education in pursuing their academic endeavors concurrently with other responsibilities as the main advantage. However, students were challenged in managing their time due to overlapping dates for submitting the tasks completed for online courses. Since the findings of the study have limited generalizability due to small size of population, several recommendations will be made for the future research.Item Open Access THE BATMAN COMES TO CLASS: POPULAR CULTURE AS A TOOL FOR ADDRESSING REFLEXIVE PAIN(Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, 2020) Hammonds, Kyle A.; Anderson-Lain, KarenIn this essay, a case study approach is used to examine ways in which comics and graphic narratives can be used to provide a context within which undergraduate students may theorize about culture. The authors employed Batman: Year One as an organizing narrative for students to theorize about culture and communication. Specifically, students were challenged to (1) understand applications of communication theory in the context of graphic narrative, (2) use graphic narrative as a space for theorizing about communication and culture outside of comics, (3) utilize narrative theory to extrapolate meaning from complex, multi-modal forms of communication. While this case study is situated within the Communication Discipline, the project may be customized to fit courses related to Rhetoric (English), Narrative Theory, or Critical/Cultural Studies. Keywords: Popular Culture Pedagogy; Batman; Graphic Narratives; Comics; Narrative Theory; Critical/Cultural Studies, CommunicationItem Open Access BREAKING THE RULES: PLAYING CRIMINALLY IN VIDEO GAMES(Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, 2019) Tregonning, JamesVideo games have long courted controversy for their frequent valorisation of criminality. However, in this article, I consider heroic criminals in video games from a different perspective. I focus on two games – Lucas Pope’s Papers, Please (2013) and Osmotic Studio’s Orwell (2016) – that position the player as a low-level government operative in a fictional authoritarian regime. Players are expected to process information for their governments, although they are also given opportunities to undermine or subvert the regime. Thus, the trope of heroic criminal is used to comment on the function and role of the state. It becomes the lens through which issues of political philosophy and ethics are balanced against the more pragmatic concerns of personal safety. These multiple competing pressures allow Papers, Please and Orwell to position heroic criminality as a multifaceted problem for the player to critically engage with. Keywords: Papers, Please; Orwell; video games; criminality; video game violenceItem Open Access “CAN YOU IMAGINE, A REAL, LIVE INDIAN RIGHT HERE IN WALNUT GROVE?”: AMERICAN INDIANS IN TELEVISION ADAPTATIONS OF LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE(Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, 2015) Fatzinger, Amy S.Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House novels have been adapted into two major television series: Michael Landon’s well-known series, which aired from 1974-1983, and a more recent Disney adaptation, which aired as a miniseries in 2005. The premier movie, which preceded Landon’s series, and the Disney miniseries both focus on the events in Wilder’s 1935 novel, Little House on the Prairie, which covered the period from 1869-1871 during which the Ingalls family lived among the Osage in Kansas Indian Territory. Wilder’s portrayal of the Osage in her novel is controversial, but she does also include some literary devices that allow for a slightly more complex reading of the relationships between Native and non-Native settlers on the Kansas prairie. While adaptations of novels sometimes revise problematic or controversial content to better suit the perspectives of modern viewing audiences, the adaptations of Wilder’s novels alter the Native content in ways that do not move it beyond the realm of stereotypes. Both television adaptations present Native themes in ways that initially heighten the sense of fear associated with Native characters, then resolve the issues through happy endings and heavy-handed moral lessons that diminish the seriousness of the historic tensions between Native and non-Native residents of the frontier. The changes made to Native themes in the adaptations do, however, call attention to the challenges associated with adapting autobiographical and historical content and raise questions about how to prioritize more respectful portrayals of Native people when working with people’s life stories. Keywords: Little House on the Prairie, American Indian Studies, Pioneer Literature, Historical Fiction, Adaptation Studies, Television StudiesItem Open Access A Case Study: What is Better for His Future?(Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education, 2018-12) Manuilova, NatalyaThis case describes the implementation of inclusive education within a mainstream secondary school on the example of the experience of a student with a cognitive developmental delay, whose special educational needs limit his academic participation and socialization in a school learning environment. The policy initiative is administered by the school principal who needs to make a decision about the best option in addressing the situation. This case narrative both highlights the complexity of the policy execution, the challenges the school principal encounters when designing actions in ensuring student’s participation; and reflects ethical issues involved in the provision of special educational services. While there are no straightforward solutions to meeting all students’ diverse needs, this case provides helpful lessons for educational leaders working in accommodating students with special educational needs. Keywords: inclusion, leadership, mainstream school, special school, student development...Item Open Access CHANGES IN TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS TRANSLANGUAGING(Graduate School of Education, 2023) Tastanbek Serikbolsyn, Kazymbek Aigerim, Kalizhanova Zarina, Kaipova DinaraTeachers have different views toward translanguaging, which is a pedagogical approach that has garnered significant attention over the last decade. This study investigates the changes in attitudes towards translanguaging off our teachers doing a master’s degree program in Kazakhstan through autoethnography. The findings revealed that the teachers’ present attitudes were formed either during their teaching practice or while studying at graduate school. Some participants’ attitudes were negative when they were teaching, and they mainly associated translanguaging with low language competence and a deficient level of education. However, after a year of studying, the participants changed their attitudes into one that was more positive since they understood the value and benefits of translanguaging. The study suggests that the MA program has the potential to be a good platform for the development of teachers’ plurilingual competence and their appreciation of student plurilingualism…Item Open Access CLT IN POLICY DOCUMENTS AND EFL CURRICULA(Graduate School of Education, 2023) Oralbayeva NurziyaSince the use of English expanded throughout the post-Soviet states, the trend towards the use of the grammar-translation method in EFL teaching in schools can still be prominent in post-Soviet countries (Hasanova, 2007). It is common knowledge that this approach often results in low communicative language competence. Thus, the primary purpose of this paper is to discover whether the grammar-translation method is still promoted or is re- placed or shifted to CLT. The paper presents a critical analysis of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in the contexts of Kazakh- stan and Uzbekistan through analyzing the goals and objectives in the policy documents regarding the teaching of English to track whether the goals determine CLT. Besides, the paper aims at discovering whether the goals in curricula are directed toward developing communicative competence in learners...Item Open Access COLLABORATIVE PEDAGOGY: TEACHING (WITH) THE GRATEFUL DEAD ON TOUR, ON CAMPUS, AND ONLINE(Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, 2022) Adams, Rebecca G.This essay describes my experiences teaching with the Grateful Dead “on tour” in 1989, on campus in the early 2000s, and online in 2019. Using a life course framework, I discuss how my own development as a teacher, Deadhead, and Grateful Dead scholar and the changing context over time shaped these experiences and how teaching with the Grateful Dead opened a pedagogical space for experimentation that allowed the students and me to take risks and to collaborate despite status differences. Rather than unpacking these experiences entirely, my goal here is to focus on how these three experiences of teaching with the Grateful Dead allowed me to develop and informed my pedagogical approach, particularly my use of technology in teaching. Keywords: Grateful Dead, popular culture, pedagogy, online teaching, technologyItem Open Access CONCEPTUALIZING EMPATHY AND PROSOCIAL ACTION: TEACHING FILM WITHIN THELITERATURE CLASSROOM(Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, 2021) Deka, MayuriThe experience of viewing a movie in the global era is multi-faceted. A viewer’s response to a cinematic experience as Carl Plantinga explains in Moving Viewers: American Film and the Spectator’s Experience is not only admiration for the aesthetics and techniques employed in the movie but also in the emotions aroused by the storyline. Audiences react to the story and characters presented with directed emotions by imagining either their mental lives and feelings or their situations. Empathy occurs within this framework of imagination where the audience engages with the story and character based on these directed emotions. The audience could not only empathize with the story or character by experiencing a similar emotion but also think about a similar situation they have experienced and attribute the emotion they experienced to the story or character. Watching a film such as How to Train Your Dragon (2010) would allow the instructor to help students sustain a coherent identity and find similarities with more and more diverse groups of people, leading to a reduction in prejudice while promoting an empathic identity. This facilitation of the development of complex identity-contents in the students based on universal affective states and life-conditions should result in them taking practical steps to alleviate the Other’s suffering and engage in social change through empathic reflection. Keywords: Film, literature, empathy, Self/Other, pedagogyItem Open Access Conducting large-scale collaborative research on higher education finance: an insider’s view(NUGSE Research in Education, 2018-06) Ippolitova, Mariya; Sanat, Aisulu; Serikbayeva, SagidaNational-level reports and programs are written annually but it is rarely possible to talk to the people who actually worked on these documents and find out the story behind them. We were lucky to interview Dr. Ali Ait Si Mhamed, one of the main investigators in the research team on higher education sustainability, who prepared a chapter in the “Development of Strategic Directions for Education Reforms in Kazakhstan for 2015–2020” diagnostic report of 2016. In the current issue, you can find the executive summary of the report but in our editorial, we want to share some insights on the project. First, we asked Professor Ali to tell us a little bit about the project and the people who worked on it before delving into Dr. Ali’s views on education in general, and various facets of Kazakhstani education system in particular. In addition to getting an expert’s view on the current situation, we were interested in the ways to improve the country’s higher education financing system. We ended our interview by asking for a few pieces of advice for young researchers who would like to work on state-level research projects.Item Open Access CONSIDER THE DEMENTOR: DISCIPLINE, PUNISHMENT, AND MAGICAL CITIZENSHIP IN HARRY POTTER(Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, 2019) Bealer, TracyIn his 2004 essay “Consider the Lobster”, David Foster Wallace investigated the ethics of boiling alive an aesthetically unappealing, yet sentient and perceiving, creature to augment the pleasure of a human consumer. In the Potterverse, dementors are described by our human heroes as “terrible things” with “rotting” bodies, “unseen” mouths, and characterized as “among the foulest creatures that walk this earth” . Their occupation as guards of Azkaban Prison does little to improve their reputation among wizard-kind. However, how much of the dementors’ evil is ontological? Is it possible that these beings have been actively constructed as villains by wizarding institutions in order to provide a non-human bogeyman for disciplinary purposes? Lurking beneath and at the edges of the books’ representation of dementors are clues about their chosen habitats and habits that suggest wizards have manipulated their existence in order to weaponize them. Dementors operate in the wizarding world not only to literally confine certain bodies in prison, but also to serve as a hated and feared “other” against which wizards can define themselves. Dementors are enlisted as prison guards and assigned the task of punishing wizard lawbreakers because their physical and emotional effects on these magical humans literalize the social punishment of lawbreaking in the wizarding world: social expulsion and death. Via a close reading the reviled dementor, this analysis hopes to open up a wider discussion on wizarding disciplinary techniques, and explore how other hierarchies in the Potterverse are established and maintained. Keywords: J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter series, treatment of dementors, justice system in Harry Potter, rationality in Harry Potter