Learning Legacies
“There’s No Separation of Church and State”, a Metaphorical Analysis of Muslim Native Speaker Teachers’ Representations of the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language and Islam in Saudi Arabia View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ismael Louber
There has been an increased interest among researchers concerning the relationship between faith and English language teaching in the context of the global spread of English; however, to this date, very few studies have focused TEFL and Islam. In light of the wider socio-political, ideological or religious issues connected to the global spread of English, this study draws on the experiences of six Muslim EFL teachers, commonly referred as “native speakers”, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by qualitatively investigating their representations of Islam and TEFL. Based on a non-realist rhetorical analysis of interview data, the study explores the participants’ worldviews and their positionality as native speakers, Muslim EFL teachers in the KSA, thereby exploring how Islam impacts their professional practice. The study concludes that language teaching issues are inextricably intertwined with broader issues such as religion, thereby arguing that the links between religion and language teaching need to be explicitly addressed within the TESOL arena.
Meaning in Life, Generativity and Legacy in Educational Leaders View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Douglas Hagedorn
A generative individual guides, cares for, and invests in the next generation and, by doing so, creates and constructs a legacy. Not every person is purposeful in their legacy, but each person will leave a legacy, regardless of their intent to do so. An educational leader’s focus on generativity and legacy may have a connection with achieving meaning in life through meaningful activities, personal experiences, and attitudes. It is highly likely that an educator already participates in generative expressions by passing on ideas, values, traditions, knowledge, and things that outlive themselves. The problem at hand is a lack of research and linkage between meaning in life and generativity and legacy, specifically in an educational setting. The current study explores leadership expressions of generativity that may result in meaning in life or leaving a legacy. It is a qualitative study that utilizes a multiple-case study design to assess three faith-based schools. The sample frame included three cases with three variants of educational leaders within each case: administrative leaders, classroom teacher leaders, and parental educational leaders (N=18). An alumni focus-group was also conducted. Each educational leader answered questions related to their own meaning in life, generativity, and legacy in an educational setting. The research goal endeavorsd to answer the following question: “In what ways do educational leaders leave a legacy with their followers in K-12, faith-based, University-Model® schools?” Findings show that faith-based educational leaders exercised their callings and purpose with numerous generative expressions that led to meaning in life and a legacy.
Theological Considerations of Artificial Intelligence
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Vasileios Aristarchos Gkrekas
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the contemporary globalized environment offers humans remarkable facilitation in their daily life. Nevertheless, there is skepticism about the possibilities or opportunities of AI autonomy in decision-making, as well as several ethical dilemmas emerging from the use of AI applications. At this point, the theology of the Orthodox Church constitutes a safe timeless criterion for self-determination. self-awareness, and their achievements, on a rational basis. Consequently, the Orthodox theological tradition sets the criteria of the moral basis of self-awareness, so that this relationship with the world and the science are balanced by the worldly presence of God, along with the eschatological perspective. Worldly prosperity is a gift of God, when attributed to God's beneficence. In contrast, it could deviate to the egotistic self-love, when anthropocentrism is autonomous and eliminates the divine factor from the life and action, as an individual and as a society. The teaching of the Orthodox Church deals with the issues of technological progress while always respecting the freedom of scientific research, but at the same time it reminds us of the divine destiny, as well as the moral values that are entailed.
