Volume 19, Number 2, 2024 Special Issue: Professionalism, Incivility, and Social Media: Educational Foundations in Digital Times

EN:

The advent of social media expands the domain of the standard classroom. The outcome is that incidents of conflict, also known as classroom incivility, exist not only within the conventional classroom. They can take place on social media platforms. In this paper, the author draws on his experience with a complaint about an assignment in one of his classes that surfaced on X (formerly Twitter), feedback on the assignment that took the shape of a story on Instagram, and his response to the activity in the two venues. He draws on the concept of classroom incivility and reflects on how this term, named to describe conflict in in-person classrooms, is relevant on social media platforms.

EN:

This paper examines how university policies are written to regulate the conduct of academics on social media, particularly the extent to which academics are discouraged from acting as public intellectuals on social media. Drawing on Michel Foucault, we analyze the social media guidelines developed by Canada’s 15 research-intensive universities, known as the U15. Our analysis illuminates that the guidelines articulate particular power relations between academics and their universities – relations that are increasingly influenced by the corporatization of higher education in the era of neoliberalism. We argue that social media guidelines represent emblematic discourses that discipline academics working in highly corporatized universities. Faculty may thus be less inclined to act as public intellectuals.

EN:

Conceptions of critical digital pedagogy extend the tenets of critical pedagogy for the study and use of digital technologies. Engaging with foundations of critical pedagogy as they apply to digital spaces, including social media, the purpose of this article is to explore how critical digital literacies can inform and be enacted in educators’ learning and development, with a focus on post-secondary contexts. Through an analysis of GIFs and memes that are frequently shared on social media, the author considers potential entryways for building critical digital literacies in teaching and learning. Using a critically reflective approach, the author makes connections between recent scholarship in these areas, as well as her own research of digital literacies, and examples from educational development practice that aim to promote criticality in action.

EN:

A pandemic in 2020 resulted in economic and social disruption of unprecedented scale. Social distancing — or physical distancing while in public spaces — was required, and social media usage spiked globally as people turned to these online spaces for information and connection. Today’s postsecondary students, in particular, are frequently immersed in social media; it can offer them social supports, such as a greater sense of belonging during times of transition and crisis, but also inherent risks, including cyberbullying and online harassment. Although many studies have examined the social connections or supports for learning that college students without disabilities experience by using social media, few studies have explored these phenomena among college students with disabilities, including neurodevelopmental disabilities such as anxiety disorders (e.g., social anxiety, autism, attention deficit disorder) that make socialization difficult for these young adults. It is important that educational research advances understanding of the socialization experiences of these students with disabilities because students’ sense of belonging and peer support is critical to their engagement and success in K-12 and postsecondary schooling.

EN:

This paper examines employer policies and professional organization guidelines governing teacher use of social media across four Canadian provinces: New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. Findings indicate that current policies and guidance often overlook the nuanced role social media plays in shaping teacher identities, focusing instead on risk management and narrow definitions of professionalism. This study advocates for policies that better reflect the complexities of teacher identity formation within digital spaces, highlighting the need for supportive guidance that empowers educators in their online interactions. By addressing this gap, the study lays a foundation for future research and offers practical implications for teachers, employers, and policymakers committed to fostering constructive digital engagement and teacher identity development.

EN:

This study uses the case of the 2015-17 contract negotiations between the Government of Nova Scotia (Canada) and the Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union to understand (1) how the Government, the union, and individual educators framed the issues at stake in negotiations, and (2) how those perspectives were represented in traditional and social media. To answer these questions, I conducted two unique content analyses of news releases, social media posts, and traditional digital media over the course of negotiations. Results show that educators used social media to frame their work explicitly in terms of caring labour and to communicate with specificity and urgency the toll of their working conditions on their ability to meet the needs of their students and maintain their own well-being. However, active educators’ voices were rarely included in traditional media. These findings show that using social media does not guarantee that teachers’ perspectives will influence the broader public discourse. Moreover, they suggest that to the extent that care frames are employed in teachers’ strikes, it may be important for unions to develop an official campaign—in collaboration with rank-and-file educators—that is centred around care.