Cosmopolitan Trade Centre or Bone of Contention? Alexandria and the Crusades, 487–857/1095–1453

Abstract

This article examines the position of Alexandria during the crusading period (487–857/1095–1453), seeking to open up the question indicated in the title for discussion. Did Alexandria's importance as a trade centre have an impact on whether or not it became the target of military attacks by the Franks? What other forms of contention was it a focus for during the period? While not claiming to provide conclusive answers, we seek at least to provide a starting point for discussion of this complex issue.     

Competing voices: a Figured Worlds approach to theorising graduate perspectives on career success

ABSTRACT

Becoming a university graduate has long been considered the route to individual occupational and social mobility, while educating more citizens has been assumed to add to a nation’s human capital and competitiveness. University education has come to be associated with individual and societal aspiration. However, changes in the labour market associated with globalisation, technology, and fears of graduate underemployment have served to question this. This paper seeks to uncover the meaning that individuals construct about their early careers as they navigate such uncertain contexts. It reports on a study based on the graduate population of one university in England. Analysis tests the value of Figured Worlds theory. Using the construct of ‘self-authoring’, this paper identifies competing voices around employability and career success. Findings reveal how graduates orchestrate varied voices, in order to find ways to figure their experience and what it means to be a successful graduate.     

Library Social Media Needs to be Evaluated Ethically

Library literature about engagement has drawn from business marketing practices for years which has unsurprisingly influenced our approach towards social media communication. This article will evaluate how continuing this practice without a critical evaluation of the ethics behind marketing practices is contradictory to our institutional values. The principles discussed in this article may be useful for current library workers and administrators looking to engage in reflective practice in their outreach efforts. In response to the pervasiveness of marketing culture in library outreach our field has an obligation to support and encourage authentic interactions with our patrons without jeopardizing what makes us different from businesses. I will explain why a marketing perspective limits our efforts, initiate a discussion about this issue, and highlight some examples of effective engagement.     

Genres and Genre Theory: A Response to Michael Rosen

This paper responds to Michael Rosen’s blog entries, ‘How Genre Theory Saved the World’, arguing that genre theory in the tradition of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) has made an important contribution to language and literacy pedagogy. It emerged in the Australian context in about 1980 and was initially developed in response to educational theories that tended to focus on ‘processes of learning’ and the role of the teacher as ‘facilitator’ only of these processes. This was at the expense of more structured and goal-directed language curricula which provide guidance and support to language and literacy learners, especially in learning to write. Genre theory, supported by extensive research using the SF grammar, identifies certain elemental genres for teaching; they are canonical because each is part of an assemblage of related genres, which successful students learn to manipulate, playing with them and adapting them for their own purposes. Learning the genres of a culture is part of learning how that culture means.     

Perception of Aquaculture Education to Support Further Growth of Aquaculture Industry in Victoria,Australia

Abstract

Purpose: The central aim of this study was to determine the perception of aquaculture educational provisions in the state of Victoria, and whether they are sufficient to ultimately support further growth of the industry.

Design/methodology/approach: Questionnaires were formulated and distributed to participants in a variety of ways, including via mail and in person. Responses were recorded and all results analysed. Participants in this study included farm and enterprise owners and managers, as well as students and careers teachers. A wide demographic was covered, and ages of participants ranged from 17 years to over 50 years of age.

Findings: Many farm owners held a relatively negative view of academia, and were quite critical of graduates and seemingly unaware of the potential benefits of educated and trained employees. The survey data also revealed substantial inadequacies in public aquaculture knowledge, a critical factor in the further development of the industry.

Practical implications: It is proposed that while the tertiary sector is the most appropriate place for the preparation of skilled graduates, the inclusion of aquaculture study within the existing secondary school curriculum has genuine potential, and would serve to encourage interest in and awareness of the industry among adolescents.

Originality/value: No prior studies on the perceptions of aquaculture industry have been conducted in Victoria, and very minimal work has been conducted in Australia on this topic in what is the most rapidly growing primary industry in the country.     

How school leaders search for and use evidence

Background: Often, a principal’s responsibilities include making decisions about the appropriateness of educational programmes to adopt in their school. Recommendations about programmes can be conflicting; so, a principal may need to search for evidence to inform their decision.

Purpose: The purpose of this small-scale study was to clarify how school leaders search for, and use, evidence to inform programme adoption. We sought to answer three research questions: (1) how do principals search for evidence, (2) how do they use common sources and (3) what sources do they consider most useful?

Sample: Twelve elementary school principals or vice-principals in Ontario, Canada participated in the study.

Design and methods: In telephone interviews, the participants described how they would respond to a fictional decision-making scenario and rated different sources of evidence. Responses were analysed in depth, using a mixed-method approach, which involved coding principals’ interview responses for themes and conducting a dual scaling analysis of their ratings of the usefulness of possible sources.

Results: Principals report valuing formal sources of evidence such as reports and articles. However, in practise, findings indicated that they would turn to people first.

Conclusions: School leaders prefer curated evidence from local educators to inform their decisions about the appropriateness of educational programmes for potential adoption.     

Peer communication relationships and psychological climate

This study examined the association between psychological climate and the types of communication relationships employees form with their peers. 194 teachers completed a questionnaire measuring psychological climate. They also reported their proportions of information, collegial and special peer relationships. Perceptions of the organization's climate were associated with the types of communication relationships employees form with their peers. These associations were moderated, in part, by gender, suggesting that men and women differ significantly in the ways they approach friendships at work. Implications of these findings are discussed.