EXPLICIT CONSTRUCTION OFHARMONIC MAPS FROM R^2 TO U(N)

Darboux transformation method is used for constructing harmonic maps from R2 to U(N).The explicit expressions for Darboux matrices are used to obtain new harmonic maps from aknown one.The algorithm is purely algebraic and can be repeated successively to obtain aninfinite sequence of harmonic maps. Single and multiple solitons are obtained with geometriccharacterizations and it is proved that the interaction between solitons is elastic. By introducingthe singlllar Darboux transformations, an explicit method to construct new unitons is presented.

A Thrice-Told Tale of Japanese Staffrooms and a Transformative Journey in Searching for East Asia as Method

Purpose:This study aims to search for fitting lenses to view and interpret teacher learning in a Japanese secondary school teacher staffroom and capture the reconstituting of researcher subjectivities in this process.Design/Approach/Methods:A narrative approach chronically documents the findings and use of the lenses in analyzing the staffroom daily interactions and traces the journey of transformation inour researcher subjectivities.Findings:The telling of a Japanese staffroom(shokuinshitsu)as a thrice-told tale under the three lenses—cultural-historic activity theory,contextualism,and intimacy orientationeach uncovers a unique interpretation of the learning going on in the daily life of the Japanese staffroom.While complementary,Western-lenses are found to be unable to explain the nature of the everyday practices in the staffroom formed under the worldviews and ethics of East Asia.Our critical examination of the major academic encounters involved in the past two decades illuminates the complex dynamism behind our research perspectives,awakens us to the dominance of Western-centralism in our researcher subjectivities,transforms our worldviews,and returns us to our cultural roots to build alternative frames of reference as East Asia as Method.OriginalityValue:This study not only uniquely demonstrates what decentered,alternative,and diversified frames of reference would look like in studying East Asian practices but also what it would take for scholars to move toward East Asia as Method.Additionally,going beyond the three lenses,it contributes to our understanding of how space(staffroom as an entity)mediates forming of the character of those who are dwellers of the shokuinshitsu.