Distance learning and teaching during COVID-19 in the Bedouin society

As with other sub-populations around the world, the Covid-19 epidemic severely affected teaching and learning in the Bedouin society. The chapter compares several variables relative to student education before and during the crisis. Educators and students needed to quickly adapt to the new mode of online teaching and many negative effects were observed. Some of these can be attributed to the unique Bedouin culture with a largely Western society. In particular, attendance and achievement decreased during the epidemic. It appears that the unique conditions of the Bedouin society, their traditional lifestyle, culture, and religious beliefs pose mental and academic difficulties in distance learning. Moreover, the fact that many students live in rural areas with no electricity or computers at home also had an effect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

A Game-Theory-Based Approach to Promoting Health Policy among Minorities.

The importance of designing policy measures that government and other public bodies apply to different populations has been escalating in recent decades. This study seeks the best way to induce conservative minority groups to cooperate with healthcare policy. The case study focuses on the Bedouin population of Israel and its willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccination. The study is based on vaccination data from the Israel Ministry of Health for the country's entire Bedouin population, twenty-four semi-structured in-depth interviews with relevant key stakeholders, and the use of game-theory tools to profile the players, the utility functions, and various equilibrium combinations. By comparing the groups and integrating game-theory tools into the process, we reveal variables that may affect healthcare processes among conservative minority communities. Finally, cross-tabulating the results with the interview findings strengthens the insights and allows a culturally adjusted policy to be adopted. The different starting points of different minority populations have implications for the design of requisite policies in both the short and the long terms. The analysis of the game allowed us to indicate the strategy that policymakers should adopt in consideration of variables that should be taken into account in order to improve cooperation and the ability to apply policy. To increase vaccination rates among conservative minority communities in general and the Bedouin population in particular, trust in the government must be increased in the long term. In the short term, trust in the medical profession must be increased, and also health literacy.

Distance learning and teaching during COVID-19 in the Bedouin society

As with other sub-populations around the world, the Covid-19 epidemic severely affected teaching and learning in the Bedouin society. The chapter compares several variables relative to student education before and during the crisis. Educators and students needed to quickly adapt to the new mode of online teaching and many negative effects were observed. Some of these can be attributed to the unique Bedouin culture with a largely Western society. In particular, attendance and achievement decreased during the epidemic. It appears that the unique conditions of the Bedouin society, their traditional lifestyle, culture, and religious beliefs pose mental and academic difficulties in distance learning. Moreover, the fact that many students live in rural areas with no electricity or computers at home also had an effect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

An Authentic Inner Compass and Need Satisfaction as Wellbeing Resources in Bedouin Teaching Students During the COVID-19.

A growing body of literature suggests that students from underserved backgrounds are more vulnerable to the adverse economic, emotional, and academic effects of the current COVID-19 pandemic. While this vulnerability was attributed to multiple structural and socio-cultural barriers, little attention has been paid to the role of psychological resources in preserving wellbeing in times of crisis and change. Guided by the Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the current study examined the role of the authentic inner compass (AIC) and need-satisfaction in predicting the wellbeing of Bedouin students attending teachers' higher education institutes in the south of Israel during the COVID-19. Participants were 84 Bedouin teaching students (84.1% female) who completed online questionnaires addressing the sense of AIC, need-based experiences, psychological distress, and positive affect. Consistent with the propositions of the SDT, we found that a strong and clear sense of AIC, as well as high need satisfaction and low need frustration, were associated with lower distress and higher positive effect in Bedouin teaching students. We have also found that need satisfaction moderated the effect of the AIC on students' wellbeing so that AIC better predicted lower distress and higher positive effect when students' levels of need satisfaction were higher. Our findings lend further support to the importance of the AIC and need satisfaction to optimal functioning even in collectivist cultural contexts that do not prioritize values of autonomy. The current study provides insight into the interplay between AIC and need-based experience by describing the conditions under which AIC may be beneficial for wellbeing in times of crisis.

COVID-19 Vaccination Among the Arab Bedouin Population: Lessons Learned From a Minority Population.

Objectives: We investigated the causes of low COVID-19 vaccination rates among a minority population and highlighted interventions for increasing the vaccination rate. Methods: We reviewed the experience during the mass vaccination campaign period among the Arab Bedouin (AB) in Israel, attempting to determine important causes of low vaccination rates and gathered information from real-life experience and through direct contact with the population during the campaign. Results: Causes for low vaccination rates in the AB are related to the health system infrastructure, crisis management strategies, and population characteristics. Long-standing socioeconomic inequalities, limited resources, and language and culture barriers present special challenges to the task of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. Key interventions for increasing vaccination rates among minority populations include raising awareness, improving vaccination access, and directly targeting risk-groups. To maximize the effectiveness of these interventions they should be culturally adapted and executed according to the needs of each individual target community. Conclusion: Culturally adapted awareness campaigns, interventions, and improved access to vaccines can be accomplished by cooperation between relevant governing and community bodies to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates among minorities.

Educational equity amidst COVID-19: Exploring the online learning challenges of Bedouin and Jewish Female Preservice Teachers in Israel.

Amidst COVID-19, teacher education has shifted to online learning. Although much is known about digital inequity in routine times, little is known about it under constrained conditions, particularly among women of minority groups. The study's goal was to explore the online-learning challenges encountered by (minority) Bedouin female preservice teachers (n = 41) compared to those encountered by (majority) Jewish counterparts (n = 60). Data from reflections (N = 101), focus groups (2), and (68) interviews underwent qualitative-constructivist content analysis. Group comparisons revealed socioculturally-based differential learning pathways, leading to educational inequities. We discuss possible ways to ensure equitable online teacher education using the "digital divide" perspective.

Differential diagnosis of metabolic disease in a commingled sample from 19th century Hisban, Jordan.

OBJECTIVE: This research attempts a differential diagnosis of skeletal lesions in a commingled sample from Hisban, Jordan, focusing on non-adults in the assemblage. MATERIALS: 2,883 well-preserved skeletal elements and 9 relatively complete skulls representing an MNI of 32 non-adults (<18 years old). METHODS: All skeletal elements were observed macroscopically and pathophysiological processes underlying any lesions or other anomalies were assessed, followed by a comparative approach to rule out potential diagnoses. RESULTS: The skeletal lesions observed were caused by inflammation due to chronic hemorrhaging, marrow hyperplasia due to an increase in hemopoiesis, rapid bone growth, and the impact of biomechanical strain on poorly mineralized elements. Rickets, scurvy, and acquired anemias best fit this pattern of lesions, although inflammation from other sources such as trauma or infection could not be definitively ruled out. CONCLUSIONS: The in utero and postnatal environments at Hisban were conducive to the development of vitamin C and D deficiencies from birth until 2 years of age. The analysis of commingled remains requires an ontological shift in the importance of the individual to the population in paleopathology. SIGNIFICANCE: This investigation demonstrates the efficacy of a combined biological and comparative approach in differential diagnosis in complicated commingled collections. In addition, it emphasizes the importance of the mother-infant dyad in understanding metabolic disease. LIMITATIONS: Histological and radiographic analyses were not included in this diagnostic study due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH: Isotopic analysis to investigate childhood diet and histological and radiographic analyses to assess survival of deficiencies.