ICT in Portuguese reference schools for the education of blind and partially sighted students

Technology has become an essential component in our society and considering its impact in the educational system, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) cannot be dissociated from the educational process and, in particular, from pedagogical practices adopted for students who are blind or partially sighted. This study focuses on Portuguese reference schools for the education of blind and partially sighted students, regulated by the Decree-Law No. 3/2008, in which are concentrated the human and material resources that can offer an educational response with quality for these students with special education needs. The study intends to analyse the perceptions of the teachers, who teach visually impaired students in middle school and secondary school education in these reference schools, of their knowledge, teaching and training in the area of ICT, as well as of the real ICT integration in the teaching and learning of these students. A survey, which has been applied to these teachers in the 2012/13 school year, was adopted as a method of data collection. The results reveal a sample confident in their technological capabilities, however with little resourcefulness in some tools and software specific to the area of visual impairment and a very significant number of teachers ignoring many of these. The implementation of ICT with students who have visual disabilities is lower compared with the sighted students. The lack of specific training is considered to be the main obstacle for teachers, with regard to the real integration of ICT in the teaching and learning of these students.     

Overeducation on the Belgian labour market: evaluation and analysis of the explanatory factors through two types of approaches

This paper examines the incidence and determinants of overeducation in the Belgian private sector. Two different approaches are used to define overeducation by means of data on characteristics of employees and employers. Using the 1995 Structure of Earnings Survey, between 22% and 24% of the workforce is found to be overeducated. Results support the idea that employers view labour market experience as a substitute for formal education. They also show that male workers and people employed in state‐owned firms are less affected by overeducation. Further results suggest that the size of the establishment has a very weak (negative) impact on overeducation.     

Collaborative learning processes in the context of a public health professional development program: a case study

The health promotion laboratory (HPL – Canada) is a public health professional development program building on a collaborative learning approach in order to support long-term practice change in local health services teams. This study aims to analyse the collaborative learning processes of two teams involved in the program during the first year of implementation. Based on a multiple case study design involving observations, interviews, and documentary sources, the study: (1) describes the learning process by which each team built a common understanding of the problem at hand and developed an intervention to address it; (2) identifies factors that facilitated or hindered these processes; and (3) proposes a cross-case explanation of the collaborative learning process in the HPL. The results demonstrate that the two teams learned by expanding their repertoire of actions, albeit experiencing different processes. Results point to the central role of shared mental models and key influencing factors, such as commitment and participation (team cohesion), team climate (psychological safety), and leadership style. Unlike previous studies on team learning that concentrated on existing teams in organisations, the current research studied purposely created teams working at transforming their practices and showed that they can successfully learn if specific conditions are achieved.     

Determinants of increasing duration of first unemployment among first degree holders in Rwanda: a logistic regression analysis

Unexpectedly, the duration of first unemployment among first degree holders has quickly increased in Rwanda after considerable loss of the skilled labour during the war and Genocide perpetrated against Tutsi in 1994. The time it takes a higher education graduate to land a first employment is a key indicator for the evaluation of and optimal investment in higher education. A long-term first unemployment has negative psychosocial and economic consequences, and is an interplay of diversified factors. Yet, these factors have not been ascertained in Rwanda, whereas their knowledge is crucial for an efficient planning of higher education and employability of the graduates. This study aimed to fill in this knowledge gap for the period 1998–2009. We fitted a binary logistic regression model to data from the 2010 Employer and Graduate Survey (n = 1007) that was conducted by the National University of Rwanda. The results showed that the duration of first unemployment was significantly associated to the graduate’s age, job search method, acquired skills, further graduate studies, monthly salary and category of employing institution. The results suggest that the higher education sector should identify and fill skills gaps in the existing curricula or its delivery with reference to the labour market requirements.     

On the influence of the architecture of poly(ethylene glycol)-based thermoresponsive polymers on cell adhesion

Thermoresponsive polymer surface coatings are a promising tool for cell culture applications. They allow for a mild way of cell detachment that preserves the activity of membrane proteins—a prerequisite for reliable cell analysis. To enlarge the application range of these coatings to cells with different adhesion properties, we synthesized various novel poly(ethylene glycol)-based thermoresponsive polymers and describe how (i) their chemical structure and (ii) their surface density affect their efficiency. In order to quantify the influence of both factors, the time for cell spreading and rounding efficiency were observed. As a result, efficiency of cell rounding, which is closely correlated to cell detachment, is less affected by both factors than the time needed for cell spreading. This time can effectively be adjusted by the molecular architecture which includes the length of the polymer backbone and the side chains. Based on this work, recommendations are given for future optimization of functionality of thermoresponsive polymer coatings for cell culture applications.     

An analysis of the effects of in‐service teacher training on Turkish preschool teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion

Any implementation of an inclusive policy is largely dependent on educators’ attitudes. In Turkey, many teachers who educate preschool children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), and who have not received in‐service teacher training (INSET) are observed to have negative attitudes towards their SEN students. The aim of this article is to examine differences between the attitudes of preschool teachers before and after an INSET course. Sixty‐six preschool teachers were selected for this study which had a single group pre–post‐test design. The teachers’ opinions and attitudes relating to mainstreaming SEN students in regular educational environments were assessed using the ‘Opinions Relative to Mainstreaming’ scale. The data indicate that these teachers were affected by the INSET programme in such a way that their attitudes towards the inclusion of SEN students became more positive.     

The impact of John Dewey on the teacher education system in Turkey

This study discusses the impact of John Dewey (1859–1952) on Turkey's teacher education system. In so doing, it heavily relies on the commissioned report “The Report and Recommendation on Turkish Education” prepared by Dewey in 1924. This paper documents Dewey's ideas about teacher education in Turkey and analyses their take up in practice. Based on the research findings, it could be argued that Dewey had a considerable impact on the transformation of teacher education system in Turkey. His most visible impact was best observed in the policies and practices in the training of village teachers. The Village Institutes Project, launched in the early 1940s to introduce a model specific to Turkey, was extensively based on Dewey's recommendations. In the Republican Era, Dewey's ideas and thoughts on education have been eagerly observed and implemented by Turkish authorities, who have openly recognised his competence and authority in the field of education. His impact on Turkish education system is still visible as the present policy makers make reference to his works.     

Preliminary study on the role of alternative educational pathways in promoting the use of problem-focused coping strategies

Coping styles are generally considered to be environmentally driven. Up to now, research has mainly focused on family influences. However, some studies underline the effect of educational settings on the development of problem-focused coping strategies. Consistently with previous reports on the enhancement of autonomy and problem-solving in alternative schools, and the relationship established by self-determination theory between autonomy-supportive climates and positive coping, we hypothesized that alternative school students develop more problem-focused coping styles. This hypothesis was tested on 80 traditional school students and 50 alternative school students (Steiner, Montessori and New schools), during their last secondary school year, using the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (Endler & Parker, 1990a). We also assessed psychological factors which can influence coping styles measures (anxiety and depression), using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, 1983), and the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961). The proportion of problem-focused coping strategies was compared in traditional and alternative settings, adjusting for potential confounding factors, using logistic regression. Results show that the proportion of students using predominantly problem-focused coping strategies is higher in the population of alternative schools. Directions for further research on alternative schools are highlighted concerning coping as well as autonomy-supportive class climates.