Mixed Reality (MR) for Generation Z in Cultural Heritage Tourism Towards Metaverse

Generation Z is transforming tourism by demanding the cocreation of transformative experiences. Cultural heritage professionals must comprehend the needs and desires of the Gen Z to support the cocreation of transformative experiences. This study analysed the role of Mixed Reality (MR) from the perspective of Gen Z guests through 18 semi-structured interviews and inductive qualitative research. Participants believe that cultural heritage experiences can benefit from immersive technology. Technology supports cocreation of experiences between developers, service providers, DMOs, and consumers. Cultural heritage sites, as a key element of tourism destinations, should consider how to use MR to enhance consumer experiences. Participants express the opinion that cultural heritage sites and tourism destinations require considerable modernisation to create transformative experiences. Metaverse in tourism and cultural heritage sites will undoubtedly support Gen Z to cocreate transformational experiences.

Shoulder to Shoulder: Broadening the Men’s Shed Movement

In the six years since The Men’s Sheds Movement book in 2015, the Movement has broadened to include many other nations and also Women’s Sheds, encompassing almost 3,000 Sheds worldwide to 2021. Shoulder to Shoulder: Broadening the Men’s Shed Movement shines a light on the transformational experiences and positive impact that Sheds have had on the lives, health and wellbeing of men, women, families and communities. The book’s many powerful Men’s and Women’s Shed case studies highlight how shared, hands-on social activity by ‘shedders’ can reduce the potentially destructive forces of loneliness and social isolation, even during a global pandemic. It’s about the universal value of “having somewhere to go, something to do, and someone to talk with,” as envisaged in the very first Australian Men’s Shed in 1998. Informative, insightful, easy to read and carefully researched, Shoulder to Shoulder provides a well-documented tour de force of this globally expanding and broadening international movement.

The “Oceanic Feeling” and Confrontation with Death

Freud’s explanation of Rolland’s “oceanic feeling” is reconsidered in the light of similar phenomena that occur in the face of impending death, such as the experiences described by Socrates in Plato’s Phaedo, and the aesthetic and transformational experiences described by Christopher Bollas. These phenomena are included in what Karl Jaspers calls “ciphers.” Other examples are presented to indicate the need to consider such phenomena in human psychology, phenomena that have been neglected in psychoanalysis due to the profound but arbitrary influence of Freud’s analysis of the “oceanic feeling,” an analysis based on the outmoded rigid assumptions of classical nineteenth-century science.

Adult learners, remote learning, and the COVID pandemic: Restructuring educational doctorate courses in crisis

This essay serves as the narrative of an early career Assistant Professor as they recall their struggles, vulnerabilities, and insecurities while navigating the need to shift their educational leadership doctoral students to emergency remote learning amid a global pandemic. Using the foundations of transformational experiences for adult learners, the need to sustain the students’ communities of practice, and positive school leadership, the author develops and executes their action plan to meet the needs of their adult learners and support them in the online environment during the COVID-19 crisis. By applying this framework as practicing EdD scholars, we serve as a model for future directions in the teaching spaces of the Education Doctorate by bridging the gap between theory and practice in our higher education teaching spaces.

Borges on Bifurcation: Remix at the Interstices of Art and Life

This paper utilizes “The Garden of Forking Paths” as a starting point to explore Borges’s concept of bifurcation and how the act of decision-making in everyday life is closely associated with similar theoretical themes in the Deleuzean notion of multiplicities. These topics then scaffold a self-reflective review of major events from D’Alessandro’s life that have shaped her past, present, and likely future. The personal and transformational experiences featured in this case study demonstrate how remix can be embraced as a broad definition and philosophy for life.

Latinx Community College Students on Academic Probation: Struggles and Success

Latinx undergraduate students on academic probation after their first semester of community college risk further course failure and dropping out. As the largest minority on college campuses, it is important to understand Latinx college students' experiences with academic probation during freshman year to develop strategies that can support them in the community college context. Using Schlossberg's and Tinto's transition theories, we explored nine Latinx community college students' perceptions after being placed on academic probation during freshman year. Findings indicate that challenges managing employment, coursework, family obligations, and academic and social integration, as well as difficulties navigating the college system, contributed to academic probationary status. Furthermore, these participants developed significant emotional stress, transformational experiences, and new behaviors due to academic probation.

Leading Transformational Experiences for K-8 Teachers

School and district leaders have recognized that traditional educational practices such as “one and done” professional development and “drill and kill” standardized test preparation are not meeting the needs of adult and young learners. Schools all over the world are now starting to embrace innovative programs that focus on reflection, engagement, and overall well-being of staff and students. This chapter focuses on the role of teacher leaders in launching innovative programs that lead to long lasting positive change in their schools. These educators are also completing a doctoral program in educational leadership at Monmouth University where a key component is the implementation of a transformative learning project (TLP). The four diverse transformational experiences discussed in this chapter stemmed from initiatives focused on global citizenship education, mindfulness, teacher induction training to improve self-efficacy and “open classrooms” for job-embedded learning. These initiatives all intend to improve outcomes for teachers through various types of professional development activities led by teacher leaders and supported by school and district level administrators.

Transformational Shifts of Pedagogy Through Professional Development, Essential Questions, and Self-Directed Learning

This chapter describes transformational experiences of a faculty of teachers during a yearlong action-research case-study of professional development, infused with digital technologies intended to capitalize on self-directed learning strategies, in the use of essential questions specifically designed to target critical thinking in students. Teachers who began to adopt the essence of essential questioning into their teaching practice also began to seek ways to engage in personalized self-directed learning as they looked for avenues to continue development of successful practice. The ability to self-investigate and self-delineate pedagogy was critical for most of participant teachers. The faculty of teachers involved in the action-research case-study demonstrated statistically significant growth on the Measure of Questioning Skills, indicating the experience encouraged teacher growth in questioning abilities. Research data also reflected statistically significant student growth in STAR Reading and STAR Math scores, and an increase in student's Measure of Questioning Skills.

Human–Equine Tourism and Nature-Based Solutions: Exploring Psychological Well-Being Through Transformational Experiences

This article critically explores insights into human–equine touristic experiences and acknowledges how such interconnectivity underline nature-based solutions (NBS) to mutually enhance psychological well-being. Despite the growing interest in NBS limited accounts have explored human–animal relations within the realm of touristic encounters. Drawing upon multispecies ethnographic accounts, participant observations, diaries, and in-depth interviews were held with 21 participants, with topics themed around human–equine experiences, relational encounters, and well-being. The sample was taken from participants located in the North East of England who engaged in equestrian tourism. Findings revealed life-changing transformations as a result of multispecies encounters. Deep emotional elements were experienced through intersubjectivity where participants spoke of the psychological benefits of being immersed in natural landscapes with their equine companions. This article demonstrates human–equine experiences as a positive NBS and illustrates that for the two species to effectively interact in equine-assisted psychological interventions requires mutual trust, empathy, and effective communication.

Reinscribing the Lived Body: A Qualitative Study of Extraordinary Religious Healing Experiences in Norwegian Contexts

Poor health often motivates people to engage in religious and spiritual approaches to healing. However, there is limited research on such experiences from a northern European perspective. This article investigates healing experiences related to Christian faith and practices in Norway by thematic analysis of 25 semi-structured interviews with individuals who have experienced healing of different ailments. In so doing, healing events across diverse contexts are characterised, and the results show that such experiences not only feature practices in which other people are present in prayer, preaching, and the laying on of hands, but also spontaneous extraordinary encounters with a divine being through visions and voices. The healing events are further described as experiences of transformational, powerful touch. In light of the lived body theory, these transformational experiences can be understood as re-inscriptions of health that are manifested in the intertwined bio–psycho–social–spiritual aspects of the body.