Everyday Virtuality: A Multimodal Analysis of Political Participation and Newsworthiness

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, digital interactions ceased to be "just another form of communication”;indeed, they became the only means of social interaction, mediated and driven by information and communication technologies (ICTs). Consequently, working in a digital context switched from being a phenomenon to be studied to the primary means of socializing and the primary workspace for researchers. This study explores four different methodologies to question how discursive interactions related to power and newsworthiness may be addressed in digital contexts. The multimodal approach was reviewed through the affordances of critical discourse analysis, issue ownership and salience, morphological discourse analysis, and protest event analysis. It starts by theoretically addressing concepts of multimodality and phenomenology by focusing on the implications of both perspectives. It examines publications and interactions in digital contexts in Ecuador from March 2017 to December 2020 within three political phenomena. The results of the analysis of these publications and interactions suggest that when analyzing political participation and newsworthiness, the virtual becomes a subjective space. Moreover, qualitative research is one of the primary ways to combine multimodality with other forms of discourse analysis. This paper concludes that perceptions, practices, and meanings assigned to social online representations can be better analyzed through multimodality, which tackles the intertwined characteristics of virtual discourses. © 2023 by the authors.

We Breathe, Therefore, We Are: The Gasp of Life

The rise of breathlessness is directly linked to COVID-19, to climate change due to air quality from pollution and to anxious experience. This chapter's phenomenology of breathlessness and anxiety show on the one hand how insidious yet more and more prevalent these experiences are becoming, regardless of the specific disease and more of an expression of climate change. On the other hand, the rise of COVID-19 poses a particular threat quite apart from the fact it is a consequence of the way that we treat nature. This is because it is spread through close personal contact with other humans, specifically through inspiration of their breath. The threat posed by this new disease means that our very way of being with others will be altered profoundly. Studies show that breathlessness from COVID-19 is worsened by climate change as areas of high pollution put more and more people at risk. This pandemic shows our fundamental reliance on the Earth, writ large. The dire consequences of humanity's damaging treatment of the planet are a stark reminder of this. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Not to Be Unworthy of the Event: Thinking Through Pandemics with Merleau-Ponty and Deleuze

This chapter examines the phenomenon of pandemics, particularly COVID-19, and attempts to conceptualize the excesses, surprises, and ruptures which epidemics introduce into the human lifeworld. The notion of a pandemic as an event on the personal and social levels requires a twofold investigation, and this chapter uses Merleau-Ponty's philosophy to look at the event structure of the body, and Deleuze's philosophy to think about the event structure of the socio-political world. The event as it unfolds in the body attunes us to the anonymity and generality of the body, its contingency, and the excess of its biological processes beyond human control-an awareness that induces vertigo, nausea, and a pervasive anxiety. The chapter ends with a reflection on what kind of ethics is implied in the COVID-19 pandemic and how we can be changed when we take the moral step and decide "not to be unworthy of what happens to us” (Deleuze G, Logic of sense. Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2004, 174). © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Separation and Discrimination: The Lived Experience of COVID-19 Survivors in Philippine Isolation Centers

Social isolation in times of pandemic can affect the well-being of individuals infected with a contagious disease. This study explores the lived experience of the 12 COVID-19 survivors placed in community-based isolation centers in Cebu City, Philippines and whose cases were mild and asymptomatic. In describing their lived experience, we employed Max van Manen's phenomenology of practice. Results show that the COVID-19 survivors have suffered more from the consequences of separation and discrimination than the disease's physiological effects. Educating the whole community about social responsibility and ethical behavior in dealing with COVID-19 survivors is essential to minimize social stigma and discrimination.

A Professing Parent's Reflection on the COVID Classroom and Research Illustrates the Full Utility of Communication Pedagogy

This essay uses an ethnonarrative method to illustrate why and how to communicate compassion in the K–12, college, and workplace classroom during a pandemic. Reflecting on my experiences as a parent and professor, my students' journal entries March–May 2020, and field research notes, I conclude that the feeling of powerlessness in the classroom and compassion within the organization creates an innovative ethnonarrative research opportunity for the Journal of Communication Pedagogy reader. Ultimately, my reflection as a parent and professor emphasized the value of communication pedagogy. Ultimately, I argue that practitioners in traditional classrooms, as well as the workplace, can advance communication pedagogy through multifaceted ethnonarrative approaches that are uniquely suited to meet the complex challenges exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 'hole' is greater than the sum of its parts: How conducting home visits during a pandemic revealed gaps in an educational system

Covid-19 turned the world upside down. What started as an impossible situation turned into a problem with new possibilities. Individuals, families, communities, and states worked tirelessly to restore balance to overworked systems. Using semi-structured interviews with teachers and administrators, this high school social worker set out to examine how COVID-19 challenged staff to rethink current educational practices like home visits. This qualitative ethno-infused phenomenological study examines the experiences of home visits by a school social worker during COVID-19. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

What really matters? A phenomenological exploration of two YouTube dialogues on living through corona times

On 23 March 2020, in response to the growing threat of Covid-19, world leaders including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told their countries that people must stay at home and avoid all unnecessary social contacts, including contact with family members, friends and romantic partners living elsewhere. As existential psychologists living in the UK, it is decided to engage in an online dialogue about the experiences of living in, and working therapeutically through, 'corona times'. This chapter explores and elaborates upon several of the key existential themes and concerns discussed in the two dialogues. The first dialogue took place a mere two weeks after UK lockdown had begun and was subsequently uploaded onto YouTube on 6 April 2020 where it can still be viewed. Just over a year later, following the realisation that many of the feelings and experiences had changed considerably, it is decided to engage in a second dialogue, which was primarily focused on the longer-term psychological and existential impact of this strange period in human history. Once again, the dialogue was uploaded onto YouTube on 30 April 2021. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

K-12 school leaders: Social and emotional challenges during COVID-19

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study is to examine the lived experiences of K-12 school leaders who were presented with a variety of challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first primary research question was: What are the lived experiences of K-12 school leaders as it pertains to the social, emotional, and mental health difficulties and challenges while leading during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 to August 2021)? Saturation was reached in this study with 8 participants, who were K-12 school leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 to August 2021), due to no new categories or patterns being discovered (Creswell, 2007). The research methodology was phenomenological and used interviews and an online questionnaire. From the data gleaned from the lived experiences of K-12 school leaders, who participated in the study, experience, facing the challenges, overcoming stressors, putting mitigation and preventative strategies into place, and advocating for self-care and well-being became the main themes related to the research questions. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed compassion fatigue and the extreme need to promote self-care for those in the field of K-12 school leadership during the pandemic, and for immediate and consistent access to mental health, educational and fiscal resources. The pandemic has overwhelmingly necessitated and precipitated into the lived experiences of K-12 school leaders as they faced conflict, challenges, struggle, stressors, and fatigue in the areas of social, emotional health and well-being. The disruption school leaders faced during the COVID-19 crisis, has brought forth how necessary it is for the voices of school leaders, educators and needs of the students to be heard and acted on. Findings from the data from this study provide evidence for crisis measures to be put into place for K-12 school leaders as they respond to such as a pandemic, recover from crisis, and to strengthen their resilience, faith, and promotion of self-care and well-being for any future crises. The data also support an increase in research related to school leaders and having resiliency when bouncing back from crisis. The school leader's plan always needs prepared, in sight, and ready to implement, just in case. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Workplace attachment: Perceived employee support and commitment: A qualitative, descriptive, phenomenological study

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological descriptive study was to understand how employees perceive the level of support received from their employers in the workplace. The study encompassed employees with both secure and insecure attachment style types from across the entire State of Maryland. The study collected data via interviews from the participants, taking note of their perceptions of how they felt supported in the workplace. Twelve participants with varying occupations were selected and completed the following: a qualifying questionnaire, a workplace attachment questionnaire (Self-Reliance Inventory), and a personal semistructured, open audio interview with the researcher. Data was analyzed using the Braun & Clarke 6 Step Thematic Analysis Approach. As a result of the analysis, five themes emerged: Workplace, Work, Agency, Job & Organization;Management;Colleagues & Coworkers;Support & Commitment;and COVID-19. There is a research gap on this topic in workplace studies and employee attachment. By conducting this study, future researchers would be able to build upon this research to continue improving relationships in the workplace. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Self-Tracking to Do Less: An Autoethnography of Long COVID That Informs the Design of Pacing Technologies

Long COVID is a post-viral illness where symptoms are still experienced more than three months after an infection of COVID 19. In line with a recent shift within HCI and research on self-tracking towards first-person methodologies, I present the results of an 18-month long autoethnographic study of using a Fitbit fitness tracker whilst having long COVID. In contrast to its designed intentions, I misused my Fitbit to do less in order to pace and manage my illness. My autoethnography illustrates three modes of using fitness tracking technologies to do less and points to the new design space of technologies for reducing, rather than increasing, activity in order to manage chronic illnesses where over-exertion would lead to a worsening of symptoms. I propose that these "pacing technologies"should acknowledge the interoceptive and fluctuating nature of the user's body and support user's decision-making when managing long-term illness and maintaining quality of life. © 2023 Owner/Author.

Covid-19 and its impact on nursing care facility business operations: A phenomenological inquiry

The research problem was the lack of knowledge regarding how nursing care facility leaders sustained business operations within the climate of adversity created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose was to explore and understand the essence of nursing care facility leaders' perceptions and experiences in maintaining business operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The conceptual framework was based on resiliency theory. The central research question and subquestion for this qualitative transcendental, phenomenological study focused on what strategies nursing care facility leaders use to sustain business operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their perceptions and experiences regarding their response to the pandemic A purposive sample of 10 nursing care administrators in North Carolina participated in semi-structured interviews. The modified Van Kaam method of data analysis was also utilized to create a textural-structural description of the participants' lived experiences, and three themes were revealed. The participants experienced challenges in all areas of business resilience in nursing care facilities, developed diverse strategies to maintain each type of business resilience in response to the pandemic, and perceived that these strategies resulted in improved organizational resilience. The study's findings can promote positive social change by helping other managers and administrators understand and improve organizational resilience in future crises. Managers and administrators at other healthcare organizations can use insights from this study to support disaster planning and management efforts, which benefit society through improved healthcare outcomes resulting from increased strength and resilience. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Is there anybody out there? Insights into Teachers' Emergency Remote Teaching Experiences*

This study aims to explore the phenomenon of emergency remote teaching (ERT) during the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of teaching practices from the perspective of public high school teachers. This study, as a phenomenology design pattern in the qualitative paradigm, focused on the phenomenon of ERT as experienced by public high school teachers and as it appeared to the teachers from the first-person point of view. Data were collected from five secondary education public high school teachers who were selected through criterion and convenience sampling methods using an individual semi-structured interview form, transcribed by dictation.io, and analyzed through content analysis. This study yielded vivid descriptions through the themes of "shifting practices", "pearls and pitfalls of ERT" and "most challenging aspects of ERT experiences." Personal gains aside, the study can provide decision-makers with insights for considering the effectiveness of the execution of ERT. The findings can be used to improve the status of ERT practices and learning during crises.

Lived experiences and meanings of the COVID-19 pandemic: A case of the elderly survivors.

The extent of risk brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of the elderly has emphasized the need to investigate their experiences during these challenging times. This study was conducted to explore the elderly's lived experiences as COVID-19 patients and to understand how they make sense of and cope with what happened to them when infected with COVID-19. Using Husserl's descriptive phenomenology, 13 elderly from Naval, Biliran Province, Philippines were chosen as participants using purposive sampling. The total number of participants was determined through theoretical saturation. In-depth interviews and the writing of field notes were done to collect information on the participants' experiences. The transcripts were analyzed following Colaizzi's steps in descriptive phenomenological method of analysis. Four general themes emerged for the elderly's lived experiences during the pandemic. These included discrimination, social isolation, anxiety and stress, and fear. Findings revealed that despite the challenges the elderly encountered during the pandemic and when they tested positive for COVID-19, they had seen it as an opportunity to improve and change their practices. The strategies that the elderly employed to cope with the pandemic were all adaptive and have resulted in positive outcomes. Results of the study emphasize the need for more programs and policies to enhance the care and support provided to the elderly during a health crisis.

Hajime! Karate as Academic Salvation

In March 2020, an official international declaration of a global pandemic resulted in worldwide uncertainty as our everyday experiences, including those within academia, were being hijacked by a contagion. Herein, I merge a philosophy of phenomenology with the methodology of autoethnography to elicit my personal story by recounting my academic experiences throughout the pandemic. This chapter describes how the first lockdown compelled a swift resignation from my revered, yet altered, academic position followed by an enrolment in PhD studies while simultaneously registering for Karate. Unexpectedly, training in Karate has proven to be a key ally in sculpting my academic identity, presenting as academic salvation during a time of professional crisis and global despondency. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

"Running makes me feel horizontal ellipsis ": The production of emotion through leisure

Using data from twenty 'running autobiographies' - written or voice-recorded reflections - we examine runners' changing emotional relationship to running during the COVID-19 pandemic. We review the complex, often fluid, and occasionally contradictory ways that leisure pursuits produce emotion, and how emotions shape subjects and communities. Mainstream conceptualisations of amateur running often frame it as a tool with which runners modulate their emotions. For example, running is commonly celebrated as a way of controlling stress or improving mental health. This approach is premised on the interiority of emotion - the idea that emotions reside within the runner. Conversely, our approach is concerned with how the practice of running and the circulation of the running body as an object produces emotion. We argue that understanding why and how people run, and what the running body does hinges on understanding the productive capacities of the running body - not only what emotions they bring into a run - and how, through its circulation, the running body produces social affects and emotions.

Clinical listening: Experience of a grieving mother in times of COVID-19

The aim of this article is to present the dynamics of a clinical situation with a mother bereaved by the death of her child victimized by COVID-19, through a theoretical-clinical study based on the phenomenological method. From the perspective and bases of the clinical phenomenological-existential, we will show a psychotherapeutic action in which grief is understood beyond the criteria positioned by the DSM-5. In phenomenological research on maternal mourning, mourning is understood as something of the order of the inescapable and the immeasurable. It is with this understanding of the affection of the bereaved that we will present the dynamics of a clinical performance of a 50-year-old woman attended by the Applied Psychology Service of a public university. We emphasize that the silence of the psychotherapist, during the care of the bereaved mother, favored that the mother felt understood in her pain. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Portuguese) O objetivo deste artigo e apresentar a dinamica de uma situacao clinica com uma mae enlutada pela morte de seu filho vitimado pelo COVID -19, por meio de um estudo teorico-clinico pautado no metodo fenomenologico. Em uma perspectiva clinica com bases fenomenologico-existenciais, mostraremos uma atuacao psicoterapeutica em que o luto e compreendido para alem dos criterios posicionados pelo DSM-5. Nas pesquisas fenomenologicas acerca do luto materno, o luto e compreendido como algo da ordem do incontornavel e do imensuravel. E com essa compreensao do afeto dos enlutados que apresentaremos a dinamica de uma atuacao clinica de uma mulher de 50 anos atendida pelo Servico de Psicologia Aplicada de uma universidade publica. Destacamos que o silencio do psicoterapeuta, durante o atendimento da mae enlutada, favoreceu que a mae se sentisse compreendida em sua dor. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Spanish) El objetivo de este articulo es presentar la dinamica de una situacion clinica con una madre afligida por la muerte de su hijo victima de COVID-19, a traves de un estudio teorico-clinico basado en el metodo fenomenologico. Desde una perspectiva clinica con bases fenomenologicas-existenciales, mostraremos una accion psicoterapeutica en la que el dolor se entiende mas alla de los criterios posicionados por el DSM-5. En la investigacion fenomenologica sobre el duelo materno, el luto se entiende como algo del orden de lo ineludible y lo inconmensurable. Es con esta comprension del afecto de los afligidos que presentaremos la dinamica de un desempeno clinico de una mujer de 50 anos a la que asistio el Servicio de Psicologia Aplicada de una universidad publica. Hacemos hincapie en que el silencio de la psicoterapeuta, durante el cuidado de la afligida madre, favorecio que la madre se sintiera comprendida en su dolor. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Reflective supervision in early childhood education: how one program used the intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 crisis created stress, anxiety, and depression in early childhood educators, with particular adverse effects on minority and marginalized populations. The use of reflective supervision (RS) has helped childhood education (ECE) programs respond to the ill effects of the pandemic. Thus, it is important to explore the specific mechanisms of how RS supports ECE workers in such times of stress. This phenomenological case study was conducted at Educare DC, an ECE program that serves a low-income, predominantly African American population in Ward 7 of Washington, DC. It aimed to examine the lived experiences of supervisors who used RS during the early months of the pandemic to support staff during this period of heightened stress. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 supervisors to develop an understanding of their experiences of providing and receiving RS. The findings led to the creation of a model of workplace reflective supervision in early childhood education. They show that the COVID-19 pandemic changed the needs of Educare DC staff and as a result, RS evolved to address these needs. Reflective supervision relies on a strong supervisory alliance, and the data illustrate that culture supports relationship building, which then promotes trust and the creation of a safe space in RS. Trust and a safe space create an environment of psychological safety, supervisor self-efficacy, and agency for supervisor and supervisee. This culture of trust then leads to the workplace providing intangible rewards for staff, like an inclusive and culturally accepting work environment, which has been shown to lead to increased productivity and job satisfaction. These rewards likely helped Educare DC staff feel supported during the pandemic. The data represent the transformative power of RS and how it can be adapted to meet the needs of ECE programs in crisis. It also provides a look at how one ECE program was able to support their staff during the pandemic, which can help other similar programs formulate their own support plans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Perceptual breakdown during a global pandemic: introducing phenomenological insights for digital mental health purposes.

Online therapy sessions and other forms of digital mental health services (DMH) have seen a sharp spike in new users since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Having little access to their social networks and support systems, people have had to turn to digital tools and spaces to cope with their experiences of anxiety and loss. With no clear end to the pandemic in sight, many of us are likely to remain reliant upon DMH for the foreseeable future. As such, it is important to articulate some of the specific ways in which the pandemic is affecting our self and world-relation, such that we can identify how DMH services are best able to accommodate some of the newly emerging needs of their users. In this paper I will identify a specific type of loss brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and present it as an important concept for DMH. I refer to this loss as loss of perceptual world-familiarity. Loss of perceptual world-familiarity entails a breakdown in the ongoing effortless responsiveness to our perceptual environment that characterizes much of our everyday lives. To cash this out I will turn to insights from the phenomenological tradition. Initially, my project is descriptive. I aim to bring out how loss of perceptual world-familiarity is a distinctive form of loss that is deeply pervasive yet easily overlooked-hence the relevance of explicating it for DMH purposes. But I will also venture into the space of the normative, offering some reasons for seeing perceptual world-familiarity as a component of well-being. I conclude the paper with a discussion of how loss of perceptual world-familiarity affects the therapeutic setting now that most if not all therapeutic interactions have transitioned to online spaces and I explore the potential to augment these spaces with social interaction technologies. Throughout, my discussion aims to do justice to the reality that perceptual world-familiarity is not an evenly distributed phenomenon, that factors like disability, gender and race affect its robustness, and that this ought to be reckoned with when seeking to incorporate the phenomenon into or mitigate it through DMH services.

Encountering suffering in digital care: a qualitative study of providers' experiences in telemental health care.

BACKGROUND: Encountering patients who are suffering is common in health care, and particularly when providing mental health care. Telehealth technologies are increasingly used to provide mental health care, yet little is known about the experiences of providers when encountering patients who are suffering within remote care. The present study explored health care providers' lived experiences of encountering patient suffering during telemental health care. METHODS: A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to uncover participants' experiences. In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of physicians, psychologists, and therapists who used telemental health in varied clinical practices in Sweden. Data were analyzed using descriptive phenomenology. RESULTS: Telehealth care with patients who were suffering was experienced by providers as loose connections, both literally in compromised functioning of the technology and figuratively in a compromised ability connecting emotionally with patients. Providers' lived experiences were explicated into the following aspects: insecurity in digital practice, inaccessibility of the armamentarium, and conviction in the value of telehealth care. Interpersonal connection between patient and provider is necessary. Worry and guilt arose for providers with fears that technology would not work, patient status was deteriorated, or the care needed could not be delivered. Providers overcame barriers in telehealth encounters, and expressed they perceived that patients appreciated the care received, and through it found relief. CONCLUSIONS: This study brings an understanding of experiences in providing telemental care for patients who are suffering. Providers experience challenges in connecting with patients, and in accessing tools needed to enable reaching the goals of the caring encounter. Efforts to ensure functioning of technology, comfort with its use, and accessibility of tools might be some accommodations to support providers for successful and rewarding telehealth care encounters.

How was mutual aid being conceptualized during its proliferation in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic? a critical phenomenological analysis

Mutual aid, a longstanding practice among socially marginalized communities, has proliferated as a widespread form of collective care amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and compounding crises. We used critical phenomenological methods to understand how participants (N = 25) who engaged in mutual aid in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic conceptualized mutual aid, and how their social identities intersect with their conceptualizations. We found that conceptualizations of mutual aid fell upon a spectrum;some participants (who primarily held privileged social identities) saw mutual aid as a temporary crisis response, which was similar to traditional aid, and could be adjunctive to government support. Others (who tended to hold more marginalized social identities) saw mutual aid as an ongoing support mechanism which was explicitly different than traditional aid and should be separate from government structures. Our research offers insight into mutual aid at a moment of compounding crises and little studied increase in mutual aid. We invite mutual aid groups to consider how their understandings of their work fall upon this spectrum and offer resources for political education in mutual aid work. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Community Practice is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)