Towards an African Epistemic Rebirth: Balancing the Values of Science and African Cultural Values

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The study explores “towards an African epistemic rebirth: balancing the values of science and African cultural values” explores the enduring tension and potential harmony between Western scientific rationalism and indigenous African epistemologies. Anchored in an exploratory design, the study adopts a qualitative methodology relying on secondary data drawn from philosophical texts, African cultural studies, ethnographic reports, and contemporary discourses on decolonial epistemology. The analysis interrogates how colonial and postcolonial intellectual legacies have marginalized African ways of knowing, privileging positivist and materialist paradigms over relational, communal, and spiritual epistemic orientations embedded in African traditions. Findings reveal that Africa’s epistemic crisis stems from a dual alienation first from the imposition of Eurocentric science as the only legitimate knowledge system, and second from the internal erosion of traditional cosmologies under modernization pressures. However, the study identifies a growing intellectual movement advocating for epistemic pluralism one that situates scientific inquiry within African value systems emphasizing harmony, communal wellbeing, spirituality, and respect for nature. This synthesis is not anti-science but pro-balance: it calls for a knowledge ecology where empirical rationality and indigenous wisdom mutually reinforce social progress and ethical responsibility. The paper concludes that Africa’s epistemic rebirth requires a dialogical integration of science and culture, where scientific education, innovation, and policy are grounded in African philosophical worldviews. It recommends that universities and research institutions adopt intercultural epistemology frameworks, promote indigenous knowledge systems (IKS), and support curricula that valorize African languages, ethics, and cosmologies alongside modern science. Such reforms will restore Africa’s intellectual sovereignty and foster sustainable development rooted in its cultural identity.

Manager’s Management Style, Employees’ Satisfaction and Employees’ Productivity at North Park Noodle House

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This research study aimed to examine the manager’s management style, including the parameters such as the autocratic, consultative, democratic, and laisse – faire, at North Park Noodle House. Additionally, it explored the relationship between manager’s management style , and employees’ satisfaction and productivity. The study sought to determine whether there were significant relationships between the manager’s management style and the level of employees’ satisfaction, as well as between the manager’s management style and employees’ productivity. Furthermore, it examined the connection between employees’ satisfaction and employees’ productivity. This study employed a descriptive-correlational research design, focusing on the manager’s management style, employees’ satisfaction, and employees’ productivity as the key variables. The findings revealed a significant relationship between the manager’s management style in terms of democratic, and laisse- faire and the level of employees’ satisfaction, while parameters such as autocratic and consultative showed that there were no significant relationship with employees’ satisfaction. Additionally, the results showed that the level of productivity was only influenced by the manager’s management style in terms of laisse – faire and the three other factors were not significant. Lastly, the study confirmed that employees’ productivity is also dependent on employee satisfaction, highlighting that higher satisfaction resulted to increased productivity.

Spiritual Conversion as an Inward Pilgrimage Toward Filipino Family Transformation: A Phenomenological Study

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This study aims to explore the factors that influence family dynamics, growth, and transformation during spiritual conversion. By recounting participants’ lived experiences during and after spiritual conversion, these experiences contribute to shifts not only in one’s inner perspective but also in family relationships and the overall quality of family life.
A descriptive phenomenological approach was used to investigate the meanings individuals attribute to their lived experiences of spiritual conversion while acknowledging the complexity of their relational contexts. This enabled the articulation of the essential structures underlying the experiences of individuals who underwent spiritual conversion and the subsequent changes that unfolded within their families.
Seven (7) participants, along with a family member serving as a corroborator, shared their narratives of spiritual conversion. Their family members were subsequently invited to validate the narratives and describe how the individual’s spiritual conversion was consistently lived in their family relationships. The emerging framework highlighted the unfolding process of spiritual conversion in the individual and its influence on every participant’s Filipino family, regardless of the Christian denominations they came from.
Findings indicate that a spiritual encounter with the sacred initiates a process of inner reorganization within the individual, which gradually extends to influence and improve the family’s relational system. Spiritual conversion, as an inward journey, reveals systemic relational change. This research offers a phenomenological understanding of a known but less-studied phenomenon: spiritual conversion, and how the unique spiritual experience may contribute to family adaptation and the transformation of the Filipino family within the Philippine cultural context.

“Authorship of One’s Life”: A Narrative-Oriented, AI-Assisted Intervention for Self-Realization in Crisis-Affected Ukrainian Adults Aged 35–55

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Self-realization in mid-adulthood is increasingly disrupted by prolonged societal crises, yet structured, evidence-grounded intervention programs that target the narrative and motivational dimensions of this process remain scarce. This study reports the development and preliminary efficacy testing of “Authorship of One’s Life,” an eight-week, narrative-oriented psychological program that integrates structured group and individual sessions, an artificial-intelligence conversational assistant, and a reflective podcast component for Ukrainian adults aged 35 to 55. A quasi-experimental pre–post design (with sequential participant stratification) with a three-month follow-up was employed, involving 52 participants assigned to an experimental condition (, comprising Reactive and Fragmented narrative profiles) or a control condition (, Adaptive profile). The program was structured around four progressive narrative therapy stages – trust building, problem externalization, re-authoring, and re-membering – drawing on Innovative Moments theory to scaffold narrative transformation across sessions. Outcomes were assessed using five validated psychometric instruments measuring meaning in life, basic psychological needs satisfaction, personal growth initiative, self-reflection, and an original scale of realizational flexibility, administered at four time points. Significant pre–post gains were observed in the experimental group across all primary outcomes, with effect sizes ranging from moderate to large (Cohen ), and gains were maintained at three-month follow-up. Analysis of session transcripts demonstrated a theoretically predicted shift from early-stage to advanced narrative transformation markers. The program demonstrates preliminary efficacy as a scalable, structured intervention for crisis-affected adults.

Digital Leadership of Public Elementary School Heads: Basis for the Development of Capability Building Program

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As technology evolves how schools work, school leaders must be able to lead in a digital world. This study was conducted to see how well school heads are managing digital tools and what problems and challenges they encounter. The goal was to use this information to create a capability training program that truly helps them improve. The researcher used mixed methods with a sequential explanatory design that combined quantitative and qualitative methods. The first stage used quantitative methods to gather the data through a survey, and the second used qualitative methods gathering detailed responses from the interviews. The results showed that school heads believe they are doing a very good job. They gave themselves high scores in areas like setting a digital vision (3.99), using technology (4.05), digital communication (4.04), managing resources (4.04), and staff training (4.01). Overall, they feel they are practicing digital leadership to a great extent. However, the study also found that school heads face real problems. These include the lack of knowledge and expertise in technology, falling behind on new trends, and facing resistance to change. They also deal with practical issues like poor internet and the challenge of teaching parents how to use digital tools. Based on these findings, the study suggests that schools may start a digital mentorship program or capability-building program instead of just conducting workshops. This program would provide effective mentoring and better materials and infrastructure to help school heads overcome the challenges experienced by the school heads.

From Experience to Interpretation: The Mediating Role of Openness to Artistic Experimentation in Abstract Art Preference

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The growing prominence of China in the global art market contrasts with the relatively limited engagement of art students with abstract art, highlighting an important gap in understanding the determinants of abstract art perception. Existing studies have primarily focused on cognitive or stylistic interpretations, with insufficient attention to the combined influence of socio-personal and psychological factors. This conceptual paper develops an integrated framework to explain how individual characteristics shape the appreciation and interpretation of abstract art among university art students. Specifically, the model incorporates personal art-making experience, self-assessed artistic knowledge, socioeconomic status, and peer pressure as key antecedents, with openness to artistic experimentation positioned as a central psychological mechanism. Drawing on the Theory of Aesthetic Ability, Social Cognitive Theory, and the Big Five personality framework, the paper proposes that openness to artistic experimentation mediates the relationship between socio-personal factors and abstract art perception. By synthesizing insights from art education, psychology, and social influence literature, the study advances a socio-psychological perspective on art appreciation that moves beyond traditional approaches. The proposed framework offers theoretical contributions by integrating multiple domains into a unified model of aesthetic perception, and provides practical implications for art educators and policymakers seeking to foster inclusive and exploratory learning environments that enhance student engagement with abstract art.

What Does Not Predict AI Adoption: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Study

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This pilot cross-sectional study examined the extent to which perceived resilience, mindset orientation, and demographic variables are associated with attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI) adoption. Using a quantitative, cross-sectional design, secondary data from 88 adult participants were analyzed. Participants completed measures of AI attitudes (AIAS-4), perceived resilience (Brief Resilience Scale), and mindset orientation (adapted Theories of Intelligence Scale), along with demographic variables including age, biological sex, and education. Descriptive analyses indicated generally favorable attitudes toward AI, moderate to high levels of resilience, and a tendency toward growth-oriented mindset characteristics. Pearson correlation analyses revealed weak associations between AI attitudes and resilience, mindset, and age. Independent samples t-tests indicated no significant differences in resilience or mindset across sex; however, a statistically significant difference in AI attitudes was observed, with male participants reporting higher AI adoption scores than female participants. One-way analyses of variance demonstrated no significant differences in AI attitudes or resilience across educational levels or mindset categories. A small but statistically significant difference was observed in mindset orientation across education levels. Multiple regression analysis indicated that resilience, mindset, and age did not significantly predict AI attitudes, accounting for a minimal proportion of variance. Overall, findings suggest that attitudes toward AI adoption are not strongly explained by general psychological traits or most demographic variables. These results highlight the potential importance of domain-specific factors, such as experience with AI, perceived utility, and contextual exposure, as potential predictors of AI adoption attitudes. Future research should explore these factors using longitudinal and experimentally informed designs.

Effectiveness of Applying Deep Learning Strategies on Developing Dimensions of Algebraic Proficiency within Adaptive Learning Systems (ALS) among (8th) Grade Students in Jordan

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The study aimed to identify the impact of applying deep learning strategies and adaptive learning systems (ALS) on enhancing algebraic proficiency among eighth-grade students in the Jerash Directorate of Education. The study tools and materials were prepared, including the development of a proposed instructional unit within the algebra curriculum based on the application of deep learning strategies and adaptive learning systems (ALS), as well as an algebraic proficiency test and verification of its psychometric properties. The study sample consisted of (60) female students selected through purposive sampling. The sample was divided into two groups: an experimental group comprising (30) students who were trained according to the instructional unit, and a control group comprising (30) students who did not undergo training. The study instrument was administered to the sample, and the results were recorded and analyzed, revealing statistically significant differences in favor of the experimental group in enhancing the dimensions of algebraic proficiency in accordance with deep learning strategies and Adaptive Learning Systems (ALS). In light of the study’s findings, the researcher recommends the importance of pedagogical and technical diversity in the teaching of mathematical content to enhance algebraic proficiency, thereby contributing to the achievement of the intended outcomes.