Popular pedagogy and the changing political landscape: a case study of a women's housing movement in South Africa

This paper sets out to explore the relationship between popular education and the changing South African political landscape through case study research of the Victoria Mxenge Housing Development Association. The research took place over an extended period of time from 1992–2003 and discusses how popular education was advocated by the South African Homeless People's Federation and its parent NGO (People's Dialogue); how it was implemented, how an increasing disjuncture between teaching and learning occurred, and how pedagogy was shaped by both political and personal factors. The paper discusses the interactions between social movements and NGOs and the limitations of social movements and popular education. It argues for a more nuanced conceptual understanding of learning in social movements within development contexts.     

关于我国非政府组织的思考——兼与西方非政府组织比较

非政府组织基于全球性问题的治理而产生。其中西方一些非政府组织的思想对环境保护、人权保护等领域产生了极大的影响,形成了全球性的社会思潮。但是,在我国,非政府组织的发展受制于许多因素,影响了其作用的发挥。通过中西方非政府组织的比较,分析我国非政府组织的特点以及存在的障碍,对我国非政府组织的发展具有重要的现实意义。     

Racism in Interracial Dating: A Case Study in Southern Culture and Fundamentalism

This article presents a case study of Bob Jones University (BJU), a fundamentalist Christian institution located in South Carolina that is known within the context of U.S. higher education for its conservatism on multiple levels. Our analysis traces the beliefs of the institution's founder and subsequent leaders, in addition to particular religious, cultural, and social influences, all of which shaped BJU's institutional policies, including the university's racial practices. We believe that BJU's policies can best be understood from the contexts of two primary influential forces: its Southern cultural heritage (specifically, the culture-of-honor that has existed within the Deep South of the United States) combined with its fundamentalist moorings. Although BJU's policies have historically differed markedly from other Christian institutions regarding racism, we believe that the present study may be helpful in illustrating important historical lessons that possess potential contemporary applications for higher education policy and prac-tices.     

What Could Have Been Done? Circuit City: A Case Study of Management and Employee Performance Failure

This case study is an employee performance analysis that utilizes Gilbert's behavior engineering model (Gilbert, 2007 ) as a theoretical framework to examine the events that caused Circuit City to fail in 2008. Additionally, the case study views the events through a systemic lens. As management implemented changes, employee morale and performance faltered, which in turn affected customer perceptions and attitudes. Taken together, these actions resulted in a negative feedback loop that greatly contributed to the demise of the company.     

Learning in the outdoor environment: a missed opportunity?

In 2001, the Welsh Assembly Government announced proposals for a Foundation Phase for children aged three to seven years. The Foundation Phase framework promotes a play‐based approach to children's learning in both indoor and outdoor contexts and places children's well‐being and their personal and social development at its core. While the framework is currently being piloted across Wales, full implementation will not take place until 2010; for many schools, then, this is a time of transition. This paper discusses the findings of a research project that aimed to document the current use of the outdoors by a group of early years teachers working in South Wales. Drawing on data from interviews and observations conducted in four schools, it is suggested that the teachers missed many of the opportunities afforded by the outdoor environment to enhance children's learning. The paper considers the reasons why this might be the case and comments on the distinction, apparent in two schools, between what was seen as ‘normal’ and ‘special’ outdoor activity.     

The rhetoric and reality of partnership working

This article presents an analysis of the policy rhetoric of partnership and the reality of the process of partnership working using data from a qualitative case study of a sub‐regional partnership. The purpose of the partnership is to widen participation in post‐16 learning in the Black Country, a part of the Midlands in England. Data collected through observation of partnership meetings, in‐depth interviews with members of the Partnership Board and documentary analysis provide a rich insight into the work of the partnership and the processes that have shaped its lifecycle. The findings reveal that at one level of analysis, partnership can be interpreted as a pragmatic response to New Labour's policy initiatives in the post‐16 sector of education and training but this reading of the data does not explain the ability of the case study partnership to sustain itself over a period of over five years. A deeper analysis of the stages in the lifecycle of the partnership indicates that shared goals underpinned by mutual values and trust amongst key people in the partnership constitute the ‘social glue’ that hold organizations and individuals together to provide the basis of effective and sustained partnership working.     

Resistance and compliance in women’s academic identity work in the Global South

The aim of this study is to explore women academic's identity work in the context of the Global South (Indonesia). This is done by examining how the interplay between macro‐level social, cultural and political influences and micro‐processes produce moments of compliance and resistance. To this end, the following research question is posed: What is the nature of identity work among women academics in higher education institutions of the Global South where there are shifting and conflicting social and cultural conditions? This study contributes by illuminating the ways in which women comply with or resist traditional and contemporary organisational and occupational structures that produce gender inequality. It also contributes to understanding how the interplay of power and resistance influences women's academic identity work in developing nations.     

Coming to Grips with Continuous Assessment

In the aftermath of the apartheid years the South African education system is being reformed and the curriculum transformed. One reason for doing so is that the old curriculum, apart from being the product of a universally discredited past, is also inappropriate for a developing economy in the 21st century. The new curriculum espouses outcomes based education. This shifts curricular emphasis from prescribed content knowledge to a learner centred, teacher facilitated, activity based style of education. Teachers must become adept at perceiving clues to a learner's thinking by observing science activities closely. The method of 'dynamic assessment' is discussed. It involves teachers eliciting clues or observing and interpreting learners' actions as a reflection of their concept development. By acting immediately when the learner is judged to be at a 'point of divergence' the teacher can pre-empt a conceptually costly meander. Teaching in this way requires confidence as well as good subject knowledge. The Primary Science Programme (PSP), where both authors are employed, is an in-service organisation. The PSP's work suggests that clear performance indicators which articulate distinctly what teachers must focus on is a powerful teaching and in-service mechanism. The new South African curriculum is discussed and shown to be demanding for teachers.     

Academics' commitment and job satisfaction: Tenure- vs. non-tenure-track in South Korea

This study analyses academics' commitment and job satisfaction according to full-time non-tenure-track (FTNT) and full-time tenure-track (FTT) in South Korea's changing academic environment. Data were collected from the 2018 Academic Profession in the Knowledge-Based Society Survey. One-way analyses of variance show no statistically significant differences in professional commitment (PC) and organisational commitment (OC) between FTNT and FTT academics, but FTNT academics exhibit significantly lower job satisfaction. Hierarchical linear regression models indicate that OC positively relates to job satisfaction, but PC is not statistically significantly associated with job satisfaction. This study argues that work conditions and stable positions are important factors in job satisfaction, though committed academics are likely to remain with the profession and organisation. These findings have implications for the treatment of academics and for university hiring and promotion procedures in today's changing academic environment.     

论非政府组织在民生建设中的作用

非政府组织是民生建设不可或缺的社会力量。非政府组织服务民生建设的作用主要包括：充当沟通桥梁,促进干群和谐;保护弱势群体,促进社会公平;拓宽就业渠道,缓解就业矛盾;参与环境保护,促进生态和谐。要充分发挥非政府组织在民生建设中的作用,完善非政府组织的相关法律法规;强化非政府组织的民间性;强化非政府组织的公益性;积极鼓励非政府组织致力于服务民生的行为。     

Voice,empowerment and youth-produced films about ‘gangs’†

This article explores the dissonance between the expansive discourses imagined by the advocates for youth media as helping foster ‘empowerment’ and ‘voice', versus the more circumscribed realities of participatory media production. I focus on a two-part case study – considering both a film-making project for ‘at risk’ young people in South London and the English national government funder that provided the resources for the young people to take part. This case study allows for an exploration of the political economy of youth media, and the relationship between youth media funding and how and why young people in my research often chose to make films about ‘gangs', a striking topic of concern across 11 youth media case study sites. I use this empirical example as a means to analyse how ‘empowerment’ in youth media projects, understood as both critical media literacy and youth voice, moves from abstract discourse to on-the-ground practice.     

Gender,power and emotion: towards holistic understanding of mature women students in South Korea

This study investigates the life experiences of six mature undergraduate women at a traditional 4-year university in South Korea. It explores women's construction of their university lives in the context of their wider socio-cultural experiences, both past and present, which are shaped by the socio-historical context of South Korean society. The study is, therefore, concerned with the interplay of structure and agency in the formation of gendered social practices (Connell, R.W. 1987. Gender and power: Society, the person and sexual politics. Cambridge: Polity Press). The results from life-history interviews reveal that women's construction of university experiences cannot be fully understood without reference to their life off-campus and their wider social structures. These social structures are Confucian culture, severe academic credentialism, a heavily masculinised labour market, and the discourse of the ‘educational manager mother’ in neoliberal contemporary Korean society.     

Learning through working: a case study of Chinese college students in South Korea

This qualitative case study was designed to provide an understanding of the work experience of Chinese college students in South Korea. A growing number of Chinese students are coming to South Korea for college education, and their aspirations for better work materialize into work experiences in South Korean businesses. In-depth interviews were conducted with five Chinese students to investigate their learning experience at local workplaces. The Chinese students' work experience not only led them to a deeper understanding of local culture and language, but also gave them integral learning within an experiential, situated learning environment.     

The Child as a Philosopher of Values: Development of a Distinct Perception of Values in Childhood

Abstract

This study suggests a distinct concept of value as a reason for action, and examines its validity and development in children aged 6‐7, 9‐10, and 12‐13. In the distinct meaning suggested here, value refers to perception of a behaviour as intrinsically (non‐contingently) desirable yet not strictly obligatory. Values are thus distinguished from morality, conventions and personal preferences by the dimensions of (1) intrinsic versus contingent validity and (2) obligatory versus non‐obligatory nature. The study reveals that many 6‐ to 7‐year‐old children already demonstrate a distinct concept of value, as defined here, and that this distinction develops with age. Subjects also distinguished between values and other reasons for action in terms of the most frequent type of reasons they gave for their perceptions, i.e. short‐ and long‐term utility as opposed to the welfare of others or social norms. It is suggested that the child's concept of values is based on his or her perceptions of a child's development, entailing increasing control over the environment, and that these very perceptions affect the child's actual behaviour and development.     

The developmental history of labor education in South Korea from a sociopolitical and economic perspective

Although there is a considerable body of research regarding the relationships between the sociopolitical and economic transition and its implications for the education system in South Korea, there is little known about how sociopolitical and economic factors affect labor education practice in South Korea. The premise of the study is that the development of labor education is driven not only by workers’ needs but also by the state's policy to increase productivity while keeping the labor movement and political expression under control. Since many educators often overlook the importance of labor education by excluding it from adult education, very few studies have been conducted to identify the relationship between sociopolitical and economic factors and labor education in South Korea. The purpose of the study is thus to examine the effect of particular combinations of social, political, and economic forces on the development and expansion of labor education in South Korea during the period between the 1960s and the 1990s. The results of the study can be compared with studies of other countries that underwent a similar pattern of political and economic transformation.     

Government and Nongovernmental Organizations Working Together in Gender Education

The promotion of sex/gender equity education in Taiwan was initiated by a women's movement group, the Awakening Foundation in the late 1980s. In 1997, it became a policy in education. The passage of the Gender Equity Education Act in 2004 was a major milestone. At present, although gender equity education has been essentially institutionalized, the challenges and obstacles are still many and, therefore, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) must continue their work. This article introduces two central government committees and four NGOs closely related to the issue, to provide an overview and assessment of their functions and roles, as well as the relationships between them.     

Varying States of Head Start: Impacts of a Federal Program Across State Policy Contexts

Classroom quality is critical for young children's learning, yet evidence suggests that the quality of early care and education (ECE) classrooms varies widely, even within federally administered Head Start. This study uses data from the nationally representative Head Start Impact Study to examine variation in children's access to formal and high-quality ECE by policy characteristics that demonstrate a state's commitment and approach to regulating ECE quality. Findings support existing evidence of the impact of randomization to Head Start on children's access to formal and high-quality ECE, and expand our understanding of the ways in which these impacts vary. Overall, we find that stronger state child care licensing regulations and other indicators of a child-friendly policy climate are associated with a smaller contrast between the Head Start versus control groups' access to both formal and high-quality ECE. This study also offers initial evidence that state regulations targeting the quality of an ECE program's professional environment may be particularly important for access to high-quality classrooms.     

Interacting for learning: Digital portfolios for a learning community in a university course

This study investigates student interactions in a blog-based learning community in a university course. In addition, this study explores the dynamics of group interactions in individual blog-based environments compared with collaborative wiki-based educational activities. A learning community of 56 graduate students wrote individual blogs and weekly group summaries using a wiki environment. The posts were analyzed by identifying a post content type and explicit feedback promotions, and by counting the number of the blogger's own comments and the number of others’ comments per post, received from peers studying in the same versus the other offline group. The results show that choosing the appropriate type of post content (i.e., sharing experiences rather than providing information, explicitly calling for feedback, and providing the blogger's own comments) augments peer interaction in a blog environment, thus explaining 51.4% of variance in peer comments. Group interactions through comments in individual blogs, without the possibility of changing one another's content, seem to be non-intrusive and prompt interactions with offline as well as with online peers. In contrast, actual editing of texts through multi-authored collaborative wikis remained affected by student offline former acquaintance. The results are discussed in terms of social interactions and pedagogical beliefs.     

The Debate on University Transformation in South Africa: the case of the University of the Western Cape

This paper examines issues in the transformation of the university system in a democratic South Africa utilising the University of the Western Cape as a case study. In particular, it questions how the University's 1982 Mission Statement, which defined its oppositional role in the apartheid period, might be revised to shape the universities radical traditions to the tasks of the contribution of a new social order.     

Internationalised While Provincialised? A Case Study of South China Normal University

Globalisation and internationalisation are both taken as salient features of our times in significant modern and post-modern social theories. Their impacts on the university are substantial. This study examines how Chinese universities are responding to these phenomena, using South China Normal University as an example. By presenting an analysis of China's internationalisation of higher education through an in-depth case study in an international context, the article captures some of the university's experience in its cultural complexity and social contexts. It sheds light on the general current state of internationalisation in the mainstream of China's higher education, and underscores the idea that changes attributed to globalisation are modified and fashioned by the particular circumstances and choices of local institutions. The study reveals how local circumstances offset and/or resist the global, and how difficult it can be to manage the global within the local in a new, changed context.