Volume 8.
Issue 07.

David Fincher's The Killer (2023) presents an unusually restrained cinematic exploration of violence, identity, and contemporary alienation. Rather than relying on conventional thriller aesthetics, the film constructs a minimalist narrative that foregrounds emotional detachment, repetitive routines, and fragmented subjectivity, thereby inviting interpretation through the theoretical framework of postmodernism. This article investigates how The Killer embodies postmodern anxieties by examining its representation of surface aesthetics, consumer capitalism, depersonalized identity, and affective emptiness. Drawing exclusively upon the selected literature concerning postmodern theory, auteur studies, David Fincher's cinematic philosophy, and contemporary criticism, this research develops a qualitative interpretive framework that combines textual film analysis with comparative theoretical synthesis. Particular attention is devoted to Fredric Jameson's conception of postmodern culture, David Fincher's established directorial practices, and evolving interpretations of the postmodern antihero. The analysis demonstrates that the film intentionally minimizes psychological transparency while emphasizing procedural repetition and commodified existence, producing a cinematic environment where identity functions as performance rather than stable essence. Rather than depicting existential crisis through dramatic conflict, The Killer normalizes emotional absence and transforms surveillance, consumption, and professional efficiency into dominant organizing principles of everyday life. The findings suggest that Fincher extends earlier postmodern cinematic traditions by presenting anxiety not as spectacular trauma but as ordinary social condition embedded within late capitalist systems. Consequently, The Killer contributes to contemporary discussions surrounding postmodern cinema by illustrating how stylistic precision and narrative restraint can effectively represent the psychological consequences of hyper-mediated modern existence. The study contributes to film scholarship by integrating postmodern cultural theory with auteur criticism while highlighting the continued relevance of Jameson's theoretical framework for interpreting twenty-first-century cinema.

The development of meta-communicative competencies in future officers is one of the crucial directions of modern military education. This article highlights the essence of meta-communicative competencies and the socio-psychological factors influencing their formation. It analyzes the role of emotional intelligence, communicative adaptability, and social identification in enabling future officers to conduct effective communication, accurately assess professional situations, establish mutual cooperation within a team, and ensure communicative effectiveness in service activities. Furthermore, the correlation between these factors and meta-communicative competencies is explained based on scientific sources, and modern approaches aimed at their development are outlined.

This study was designed to examine classroom observation as a supervisory mechanism for secondary school teachers’ job performance in Kumba I Municipality. The study was guided by one objective and supported by the clinical supervision/clinical feedback theory developed by W. Robert Goldhammer (1969) a systematic and collaborative approach to improving classroom instruction through direct observation and constructive feedback. The quantitative research approach specifically the descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprise of the 105 teachers from secondary schools in Kumba I Municipality. The purposive and simple random sampling techniques was adopted for the study. The instrument use for data collection was a questionnaire. Data was analysed using SPSS 23.0, with the aid of descriptive and inferential statistical tools. The hypothesis of the study was tested using a Pearson Product Moment Correlation and regression analysis presented at 95% level of confidence interval with alpha set at 0.05 levels accepting 5% margin of error. The descriptive findings show that classroom observation as a supervisory mechanism is largely 87.1% perceived positively by secondary school teachers for their effectiveness in Kumba I Municipality while 12.9% do not. Overall, the descriptive statistics (mean = 2.429, SD = 0.458) reflect that teachers’ responses cluster around this generally favourable perception of classroom observation in relation to job performance. The inferential results further confirm that classroom observation has a significant relationship with teachers’ job performance. Although the hypothesis was stated as “no significant relationship,” the Pearson Product Moment Correlation revealed a positive and significant correlation between classroom observation and teachers’ job performance (r = .356, p = .000, significant at the 0.01 level). The reported explanatory power indicates that classroom observation accounts for a large portion of the association in terms of the Nagelkerke statistics (86.3%). In addition, the multiple regression analysis shows that classroom observation significantly predicts teachers’ job performance (β = .299, t = 3.701, p = .000), with an r2=35.2%r^2 = 35.2\%r2=35.2% meaning that classroom observation explains 35.2% of the variation in teachers’ job performance, while other factors account for the remaining percentage. Collectively, these results imply that when classroom observation is conducted and perceived as constructive, it tends to enhance teachers’ confidence and teaching effectiveness, thereby improving overall job performance. Based on the findings, it is recommended that school administrators and educational supervisors in Kumba I Municipality should strengthen the implementation of classroom observation as a supportive and developmental supervisory mechanism by ensuring that it is conducted in a non-threatening, collaborative, and feedback-driven manner. Supervisors should prioritize pre-observation discussions, classroom-based mentoring, and constructive post-observation feedback that focuses on improving instructional practices rather than fault-finding or control. This approach will help reduce teachers’ fear and resistance toward supervision, improve their perception of classroom observation, and enhance their instructional effectiveness and overall job performance.

This study aims to identify the reality of teachers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and to assess their level of digital competence in secondary schools in the Triangle area. It also seeks to examine differences in these variables according to gender, academic qualification, years of experience, and specialization, as well as to explore the nature of the relationship between the use of AI tools and digital competence. The study employed the descriptive correlational method, and an electronic questionnaire consisting of 42 items was administered to a sample of 111 male and female teachers. The findings revealed that teachers’ use of AI tools was at a moderate level, with relatively higher use of tools for generating explanations and designing activities, and lower use of tools related to analyzing students’ performance. The results also showed that teachers’ digital competence was at a moderate to high level, with digital safety scoring the highest and digital problem-solving being the lowest among the measured domains. Moreover, the study found no statistically significant differences in the use of AI tools or in digital competence attributable to gender, academic qualification, years of experience, or specialization, indicating a general consistency across teacher groups. The results further demonstrated a strong positive correlation between the use of AI tools and digital competence (r = 0.61), suggesting that higher levels of digital competence enhance teachers’ ability to effectively adopt AI tools in educational practices.

The article examines a motivation-driven framework for developing functional communication and social interaction in children with autism spectrum disorder. The aim is to integrate verbal behaviour theory, motivating operations, mand training, intensive teaching, errorless learning, natural environment teaching, and inclusive early childhood practice into a coherent clinical and educational model. The study's relevance stems from the central role of communicative and social deficits in autism, as well as the need for interventions that connect structured instruction with everyday social participation. The novelty lies in treating motivation as the organizing principle across theoretical, procedural, and contextual layers of intervention. The article concludes that functional communication develops through sequential mand training, systematic expansion of verbal operants, intraverbal instruction, and planned generalization across natural settings. Inclusive classrooms are presented as environments where peer interaction can generate meaningful communicative occasions and support social growth. The article will be useful for behavior analysts, speech-language specialists, early childhood educators, inclusion coordinators, and researchers in autism intervention.

This study was designed to examine the impact of principals’ supervisory skill on teachers’ effectiveness in public secondary schools in the South West Region of Cameroon. To achieve the objective of the study, one research question and hypothesis guided the study. The study adopted a mixed-methods research approach specifically the concurrent survey research design. The population of the study comprised of teachers, principals and students from public secondary schools in the South West Region of Cameroon. The sample was made up of 280 teachers, 270 high school students and 18 principals. The purposive sampling technique and simple random sampling technique was adopted for the study. Questionnaire and semi-structured interview guide were the instruments used for the study. The questionnaire consisted of both close and open-ended questions for teachers and semi-structured interview guide for principals. The instruments were subjected to various validity and reliability checks as appropriate. Data from close ended questions were analysed using SPSS 23.0, with the aid of descriptive and inferential statistical tools while open ended questions were analysed thematically. The Spearman's rho was used to test the research hypotheses formulated in the study. Findings reviled that majority 81.3% of teachers indicate that their principals’ supervisory skill influences their effectiveness in public secondary schools while 18.7% do not. Also, the findings reveal that teachers and principals generally perceive effective principal supervisory skills as essential for improving teachers’ effectiveness. Teachers’ responses indicate that supervision promotes orderliness by ensuring teachers perform their duties correctly, prepare lessons, and contribute to the smooth functioning of the school. Supervision was also viewed as a source of teacher motivation and encouragement, as principals’ guidance, presence, and recognition encourage teachers to be more committed and responsible. Furthermore, respondents emphasized teacher accountability and performance, noting that regular follow-up and monitoring help teachers meet expectations, identify weaknesses, and improve their work. The findings also highlight the role of supervision in professional growth, as principals’ guidance, feedback, and support enhance teachers’ skills, job satisfaction, and instructional practices. Through supervisory techniques and practices such as classroom checks, observations, and monitoring, principals help teachers remain focused and effective. Although a few teachers disagreed, arguing that personal commitment and professional conscience are more important than supervision, the majority acknowledged its positive influence. Principals’ responses further support these views, showing that they use classroom observations, feedback and evaluation, encouragement of innovation, collaborative planning, and monitoring of implementation to guide teachers. Their supervisory skills enhance instructional effectiveness by providing targeted feedback, facilitating professional development, fostering collaboration and peer support, and cultivating a positive learning environment where teachers feel supported and motivated to improve their practices. The hypothetical statistics showed that there is a significant, positive and strong relationship between principals’ supervisory skill and teachers’ effectiveness in public secondary schools (R- value 0.573**, p-value < 0.000 < 0.05). The positive sign of the correlation value implies that effective principals’ supervisory skill will contribute to the enhancement of teachers’ effectiveness in public secondary schools. Thus, the null hypothesis was rejected while the alternative that states there is a significant relationship between principals’ supervisory skill and teachers’ effectiveness in public secondary schools was accepted. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the Ministry of Secondary Education, in collaboration with relevant educational authorities, should organize continuous professional development programmes for principals to strengthen their supervisory skills, particularly in areas such as instructional leadership, constructive feedback, classroom observation, teacher mentoring, and collaborative supervision, so that they can effectively support and improve teachers’ effectiveness in public secondary schools.

This study investigated the relationship between digital citizenship skills and sustainable civic behaviour among Social Studies students in Ethiopia. Specifically, the study examined the relationship between digital communication skills, digital etiquette, digital security awareness, and sustainable civic behaviour among Social Studies students. The study adopted a quantitative research approach using a descriptive correlational survey research design. The study was conducted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A sample of 400 Social Studies students was selected using a multistage sampling procedure involving purposive and simple random sampling techniques. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire titled Digital Citizenship Skills and Sustainable Civic Behaviour Questionnaire (DCSSCBQ). The instrument was validated by experts in Educational Technology, Social Studies Education, and Measurement and Evaluation, while its reliability was established using Cronbach Alpha statistics. Data collected were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that digital communication skills had a significant positive relationship with sustainable civic behaviour (r = 0.682, p < 0.05). The study also found a significant positive relationship between digital etiquette and sustainable civic behaviour (r = 0.731, p < 0.05). Furthermore, digital security awareness showed a significant positive relationship with sustainable civic behaviour (r = 0.645, p < 0.05). The study concluded that digital citizenship skills significantly contribute to sustainable civic behaviour among Social Studies students in Ethiopia. It was recommended that educational institutions integrate digital citizenship education into Social Studies programmes to promote responsible digital participation and sustainable civic engagement among students.

This article analyzes the particularly important geostrategic and geopolitical position of the East Sea (or South China Sea), (known as Biển Đông in Vietnam)—a vital international maritime route connecting global trade, as well as the core living space and security gateway for coastal states, including Vietnam. On this basis, the study scientifically systemizes Vietnam's historical evidence regarding the peaceful and continuous process of establishing and enforcing sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos across historical periods. These historical sources are entirely compatible with the principles of effective occupation under international law and the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982). Finally, the article clarifies the current consistent stance of the Party and State of Vietnam in upholding the rule of law, persistently resolving disputes through peaceful means, promoting international cooperation, and leveraging the central role of ASEAN to firmly protect legitimate maritime rights and interests, closely aligned with the orientation of sustainable development for the national marine economy.