Resource‐use negotiation as an alternate strategy for sustainable water‐resource management: Experience from Nepal

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the strategies, mechanisms and practices of local level water use negotiation. The paper reveals that local people have their own strategies, mechanisms and approaches to utilise available limited natural resources. The case of water‐use negotiation was studied using direct observation, group discussion and interview methods. The paper explores the effect of norms, values, beliefs, knowledge, power, communication and facilitation, feelings of ownership on resources use negotiation and water‐resource management processes in Nepal. Women are the crucial actors and dynamic negotiators of community level resource use conflict. The role of development organisations is identified as facilitators to resolve conflict instead of leading the negotiation. The dominant extension approach in Nepal is not able to address resource use conflict. It needs an approach that acknowledges conflict as a part of social process and that promotes the facilitation of negotiation and adaptation.     

School,Home and Community: an examination of their impact on children's resource‐based learning

Abstract

The Centre for Information and Research at the University of Central England in Birmingham is carrying out research investigating the relationship between different learning cultures and resource‐based learning in children. The research examines the ways in which children's access to learning resources and support in using them affects their learning. The aim is to produce recommendations for local agencies on how they can work together more effectively to create better learning opportunities for children across a community. The article outlines the aims and methodology of the research and identifies the factors said to affect learning, based on a review of existing literature. This research is timely as there is a national government focus on lifelong learning and widening participation; the focus has been mainly on adult education and there is a need for an examination of the ways in which children are equipped with the skills to become lifelong learners. It takes place in a context in which learning in schools has moved towards project work, requiring children to find their own information through using research and information searching skills. The research also reflects current government concerns about narrowing the existing gap between families and individuals who have access to a broad range of learning support tools and those without this support. The article highlights the value of an interagency approach to identify gaps and to ensure community‐wide support for children's learning within specific localities.     

Quality over quantity?: Mentoring relationships and purpose development among college students

A growing number of studies have demonstrated that purpose in life is associated with positive outcomes among adolescents and young adults. The college years represent an important period of both personal and professional growth, including purpose in life. Supportive relationships may play a critical role in the identification and pursuit of purpose. Relationships with mentors, for example, have been linked with purpose among adolescents. The present study examined whether mentoring relationships were linked with purpose among college students (N = 194) from three institutions across the United States. Both aspects of quality (relational health) and quantity (i.e., number of mentors) were examined as predictors of purpose. Students who had at least one mentor reported higher levels of purpose compared to students with no mentors. Among students with at least one mentor, quality of mentoring was significantly associated with a greater commitment to purpose, while the number of mentors was not associated with commitment to purpose. Results are discussed in the context of practical applications regarding student success and purpose formation in higher education settings.     

Teaching about Human Relationships Education for primary school student‐teachers using an interactive CD‐ROM

Human Relationships Education is a very important part of primary school student‐teacher education. All primary school children need sound guidance and enhanced knowledge about puberty, growing up successfully, and feeling competent and confident in themselves. An interactive multimedia CD‐ROM was designed and developed for some Australian university student‐teachers in the final fourth year of their Bachelor of Education (Primary School), and addresses the Human Relationships Education curriculum. This paper analyses some of the pedagogies used in this pastoral care learning as examples of a Constructivist approach to designing multimedia interactivities based on Anderson and Krathwohl's learning framework. Such an approach may be useful for other educational designers to improve student‐teacher involvement in their pastoral care learning, to provide pedagogical variation and to use interactive multimedia, thus enhancing learning outcomes for student‐teachers and, in turn, their primary school students.     

Discipline‐based educational development

Abstract

This paper grows out of my academic journey from a long period teaching and researching geography to recently taking on the role of an educational developer. For most staff, their primary allegiance is to their discipline. In my experience, educational developers often fail to recognize and value staff's focus on their discipline ‐ or see it as an obstacle to improving the quality of their teaching. My central argument is that, to have a significant impact on the broad mass of staff, educational developers should work with these discipline‐based concerns. I detail how this can be achieved, drawing on much good practice from the UK, Australia and North America. Approaches include recognizing particular curricular and pedagogic concerns of the disciplines; helping staff to develop as scholars in the teaching of their discipline; for some staff to develop careers in the teaching of their discipline; and for educational developers to work with disciplinary organizations to promote discipline‐based teaching initiatives.     

Case‐based Learning: Educating Future Human Service Managers

Using teaching cases in professional education programs has gained increased attention in the past several decades. While the use of teaching cases has been an important part of social work education, the majority of current casebooks focus on micro or direct practice issues and settings. Over the past forty years only four major casebooks have focused exclusively on the macro practice of social work. This analysis of case‐based learning is divided into the following components: 1) the search for practice wisdom emerging from analyzing cases within the context of management knowledge and skills, 2) case discussion in the classroom, including student and instructor preparation, case selection and integration into the course, case debriefing, student‐designed cases, and conceptual frameworks for teaching management, 3) a conclusion that identifies the benefits and limitations of case‐based learning.     

School‐based curriculum development: the Hong Kong experience

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to analyse the nature of the School‐based Curriculum Project Scheme (SBCPS), which was introduced into the Hong Kong education system in 1988. The aims of the scheme were to promote school‐based curriculum development (SBCD) designed to meet the learning needs of pupils and to encourage teachers to solve curriculum problems. Overall, the article provides insights into the characteristics of the SBCPS which was introduced into a highly centralized context and was initiated through a highly centralized mechanism, and describes how it was implemented into Hong Kong schools. This underlines the need both to view curriculum policies critically and to recognize the impact that the prevailing culture in schools has on attempts at curriculum innovations.     

Lecturing in Post‐Compulsory Education: profession,occupation or reflective practice?

Abstract

This paper argues that a new conceptualisation of teaching in post‐compulsory education is required. Taking into account the radical ideology‐driven change experienced in the sector in recent times, it is suggested that there are difficulties with the model of the lecturer as a ‘professional’, chief amongst which is that lecturers do not seem to think of themselves in this way. It is suggested that any alternative conceptualisation must: (i) take into account lecturers' own conceptions of their working practices, (ii) reflect the range of these practices, and (Hi) reflect the epistemological and ethical basis of teaching, in particular lecturers' sense of the value and worth of what they do. Finally, some implications of the proposed model of teaching for management practice and development, and the potential of the approach for theory practice and practitioners, are explored.     

Inclusion in PK‐12: an international perspective

With an aim to investigate inclusion across borders, quantitative and qualitative data were examined that came from 18 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Finland, France, Iceland, India, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the USA. Four themes emerged in this study: (1) concerns with student outcomes in inclusive settings; (2) teachers’ beliefs and the ways they relate to their practices; (3) inclusive schools philosophies and practices; and (4) the intersection of inclusion and exclusion. Although international policies, knowledge, and understanding about inclusion and inclusive practices continue to advance throughout the world, there are manifestations of provincialism and discrimination predominantly marked by ethnicity, socio‐economic status, and ability. While a reality for some students, inclusion remains an aspiration for too many.     

Setting Targets: developing perspectives during a staff‐development programme

Abstract

This paper provides a report of a continuing staff development programme within a faculty of initial teacher education in a college of higher education, funded by the DTI sponsored Enterprise Awareness in Teacher Education (EATE) initiative. It describes the context for the programme, explores its objectives, considers the programme format and reflects upon its outcomes from the viewpoint of its participants and the effects within the institution.     

Jonathan Livingstone,I Presume: teaching as a ‘high‐flying’ profession

This paper points to a new discursive order in teacher education policy and professional development practice which is actively producing teachers as ‘corporatising’ professionals. The authors note certain rhetoric shifts in Australian teacher education policy which, they argue, constitute quite a radical departure from notions of the professional worker which proliferated less than a decade ago. Drawing on Foucaultian notions of the discursive nature of knowledge and identity formation, they discuss the implications of this rhetorical shift in terms of its impact on the ‘professional’ identity of the teacher.     

Adult learners and professional development: peer‐to‐peer learning in a networked community

This paper analyses how adult learners on a professional development course learn and develop through online dialogue. The research uses Wenger’s community of practice framework, and assesses whether the concept of ‘legitimate peripheral participation’ is useful in relation to this specific case study in which the students are practitioners and parents of individuals with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). The study focuses on peer‐to‐peer learning and analyses a sample of asynchronous online discussions from three separate online tutorial groups. The first part of the study combines quantitative analysis of distribution patterns, with qualitative discourse analysis that measures central concepts associated with communities of practice. The second part of the study addresses whether the concept of ‘legitimate peripheral participation’ is useful in this context. The contribution of one key individual in each group is analysed in order to provide a narrative about how that person communicates with the others, shares values and repertoires with them and gradually becomes a central member of the community. The data supports the notion that these forms of interaction and approaches to learning can favour the construction of knowledge and help to develop reflective skills and a sense of ‘togetherness’ in the group through sharing stories with one another, developing identity through the discussions and through this enabling the development of community. The findings indicate that the learners are provided with opportunities to consider the strengths and weaknesses of ideas from multiple perspectives and that key students play a role in enabling other students to move from a position of legitimate peripheral participation to becoming full members of the community.     

Educational model for environmental‐cognition development

Environmental education (EE) is an holistic educational approach the main goal of which is to develop the students’ environmental cognition, as compared to the disciplinary approach which develops a compartmentalized cognition. Environmental cognition is defined as a reciprocal relationship, comprising knowledge, understanding, sensitivity, perceptiveness and imagination with regard to the environment as well as responsibility and motivation to make environmental decisions. A conceptual model was constructed for this purpose comprising three stages: sensing the environment and generating questions; analysing and then synthesizing a system presentation of the environment, thereby focusing upon the inter‐relatedness and interdependence of environmental components; and environmental problem‐solving.

The model was implemented for training EE teachers and for EE curriculum development. Both of which may enhance the inclusion of EE within the formal educational system.     

Gifted and at risk: Four longitudinal case studies of post‐high‐school development

This study explored the subjective experience of post‐high‐school development in four gifted individuals considered at risk because of significant underachievement, depression, or family stress. Conflict with parents was a dominant theme in the language of three of the subjects, and resolution of that conflict appeared to be associated with developmental task‐accomplishment and improved academic motivation and emotional health. The process of differentiating from parents included exploring identity, finding career direction, and struggling with autonomy issues during extended education. The developmental stories of these individuals, largely in their own words, are situated in one transitional developmental period, and the narratives allude to sexual abuse, sexual orientation, relatively early marriage, or depression.     

Strategy‐based development of teacher educators' ICT competence through a co‐operative staff development project

An ICT strategy and an implementation plan for teacher education were created in a co‐operative process. Visions and expectations of staff members and students were registered by questionnaires and by making notes during sessions in which the strategy was created. Thereafter, an implementation document, where the staff development programme and plans of how to develop ICT infrastructure and to integrate ICT to teacher education, was created. A large programme for staff ICT skills development was implemented and a new infrastructure (a new domain and websites etc.) was developed over a two‐year period. On the basis of staff self‐evaluation data, staff ICT skills developed substantially and ICT use as part of teacher education grew more versatile. On the basis of our experiences and the data collected during the project, a list of properties needed for a successful staff development project is given.

Une stratégie TIC et un plan de mise en ?uvre relatifs à la formation des enseignants ont été mis en place dans le cadre d'un processus coopératif. Les visions et les attentes des membres du personnel et des étudiants ont été répertoriées au moyen de questionnaires et en prenant des notes lors des sessions durant lesquelles la stratégie a été mise en place. Après cela, un document de mise en ?uvre portant sur le programme de développement du personnel et sur les plans visant à améliorer l'infrastructure TIC et à intégrer les TIC dans la formation des enseignants a été rédigé. Un programme extensif portant sur le développement des compétences en matière de TIC du personnel a été mis en ?uvre et une infrastructure nouvelle (nouveau domaine, sites Internet etc.) a été développée sur une période de deux ans. Sur la base des données d'auto‐évaluation du personnel, les compétences TIC du personnel ont connu une amélioration substantielle et le recours aux TIC dans la formation des enseignants est devenu plus varié.

Eine ICT‐Strategie und ein Realisierungsplan für die Lehrerausbildung wurden in einem kooperativen Prozess aufgebaut. Visionen und Erwartungen der Personalmitglieder und der Studenten wurden durch Fragebögen und Erfassung von Notizen in den Sitzungen ermittelt, in denen die Strategie erarbeitet wurde. Danach wurde ein Realisierungsdokument erstellt, das das Personalentwicklungsprogramm und die Pläne zur Entwicklung der ICT‐Infrastruktur und zur Integration der ICT in die Lehrerausbildung beinhaltete. Es wurde ein umfangreiches Programm für die Entwicklung der ICT‐Kenntnisse des Personals realisiert und eine neue Infrastruktur (eine neue Domain und Websites usw.) über einen Zeitraum von zwei Jahren entwickelt. Aufgrund der Selbstbewertungsdaten des Personals entwickelten sich ihre ICT‐Kenntnisse wesentlich und die Anwendung der ICT als ein Teil der Lehrerausbildung wurde vielseitiger.

En un proceso cooperativo se han creado una estrategia de TIC (Tecnologías de la información y de la comunicación) y un plan de implementación para la formación de profesores. Se han registrado los puntos de vista y las expectativas de los miembros del personal y de los alumnos mediante cuestionarios y tomando notas durante las sesiones en las que se creó la estrategia. Posteriormente, se redactó un documento de implementación, con el programa de desarrollo del personal y los planes sobre cómo desarrollar la infraestructura de TIC e integrar las TIC en la formación del profesorado. Se implementó un programa más grande para el desarrollo de las aptitudes en TIC del personal y se desarrolló una nueva infraestructura (nuevos dominio y sitios web, etc.) en un período de dos años. Sobre la base de los datos de la autoevaluación del personal, las aptitudes en TIC del personal se desarrollaron considerablemente y el uso de las TIC como parte de la formación del profesorado fue más versátil.