Leadership challenges of strategic research centres in relation to degree of institutionalisation

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyse leadership challenges in the organisation of strategic research centres, focusing on the relationship between organisation and the level of institutionalisation. Four main themes of leadership challenges were identified: (1) the changing university context, including relationships with top management and faculties; (2) research strategy, considering decisions about diversity or a focused perspective; (3) management, dealing with prioritising administrative work; (4) affiliation, the sense of belonging to a strategic research centre, comprising issues of leadership, trust, attitude towards recruitment and succession. We concluded that leadership and effective administration are vital for research collaboration, not only within small research groups as been shown in other studies, but also within large groups in university-based research centres.     

Contribution of Distance Education to the Development of Individual Learners

An important touchstone of distance education has been to contribute to the development of individual learners whatever their life circumstances. The first half of the article provides an overview of this contribution and of the understanding and awareness that has been developed about distance learners in their individual learning contexts. The overview is based around five themes: access to education, adjustment to new learning environments, individual development, knowledge and awareness of learners in context, and the importance of understanding the learner’s perspective of distance education. In the latter part of the article it is argued that the way ahead for distance education requires attention to more than technological approaches to learning, and that the field is well placed to provide an informed critique of current trends and developments, to focus on the student experience, and to contribute to learner development and practitioner development.     

Children's thinking about diversity of belief in the early school years: judgments of relativism, tolerance, and disagreeing persons

Children's thinking about diversity of belief in 4 realms--morality, taste, facts, and ambiguous facts--was examined. Ninety-six participants (ages 5, 7, and 9) were interviewed about beliefs different from their own that were endorsed by characters with different status; their judgments of relativism, tolerance, and disagreeing persons were assessed. Five-year-olds made fewer relative and tolerant judgments than 7- and 9-year-olds. Nevertheless, participants of all ages organized their judgments according to the realm of diversity, thought that some beliefs are relative and some are nonrelative, and made tolerant judgments of some divergent beliefs (and their proponents) but not of others. The findings suggest that, in the early school years, children have multiple and well-differentiated perspectives on belief diversity.     

租房记

五十三年前,本文作者James A.White Sr.是一名美国空军,但作为一名非裔美国人,他几经周折才终于得以在其驻地租下一间房子,他以幽默生动的方式向我们讲述了这段经历,揭露了当时美国严重的种族歧视现象。然而,时至今日,这种歧视依然以一些隐晦的形式存在着……     

Young refugees’ and asylum seekers’ career choices: a qualitative investigation

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - A major challenge for refugees and asylum seekers is social and professional integration. Using constructivist and capability...     

A paradox of age in early childhood education: A review of the literature and survey of Australian educators working with three-year-old children

Educational Research for Policy and Practice - A paradox concerning age exists in early childhood education (ECE) across many countries today, evident in the literature, curriculum, policy,...     

Boyer in the Middle: Second Generation Challenges to Emerging Scholarship

This article reports on an examination of the distinctive second-generation challenges and opportunities faced by an early institutional adopter of the Boyer model of scholarship. Following the first cohort of faculty to be reviewed for tenure and promotion based on these criteria, we report the results of a survey designed to determine the perceptions of faculty and administrators of the degree to which emerging forms of scholarship had been integrated into the university culture including factors such as institutional identity, support structures, and faculty participation. This case study sheds light on the process of adaptation at this single institution and provides glimpses of how cultural change might occur across higher education.     

Teaching Problem-Posing and Inquiry to Teachers Using a Non-Traditional Operation

Teaching teachers to participate in mathematical inquiry has the potential to both transform belief systems about mathematics and to transform teachers from consumers of mathematics to producers of mathematics. The focus of this paper is to describe the use of a problem, based on a non-traditional binary operation, to encourage and teach pre-service and in-service teachers inquiry and problem-posing. We present a brief mathematical solution for the problem and we then discuss problem-posing activities and discussions of connections to the Standards of Mathematical Practice from the Common Core State Standards. We discuss several key aspects of the problem that make it well-suited for the purposes of teaching inquiry and problem-posing.