Notes on the inter-industrial flow of technology in post-war Britain

On the basis of the analysis of the originators and the first users of more than 1600 significant innovations in Britain since the Second World War, it appears that the performance-maximising industries (where technological change is a critical feature of competitiveness and growth) are the main source of these innovations, the majority of which are used in other types of industry, and particularly in the cost-minimising industries, and in the salesmaximising (consumer goods) industries.     

Assessing Cross-cultural Competence in Transnational Education: The Intercultural Development Inventory

As transnational education programmes continue to proliferate, a corresponding increase in intercultural competence on the part of faculty, curriculum developers, and support staff is required. Transnational programmes incorporating ''best practice'' curricula and the most advanced technology and facilities cannot fulfill their potential unless they meet the cultural needs of their clientele. Meeting these needs requires an understanding of intercultural competence and objective methods to measure and assess it. These requirements raise issues in terms of objectively measuring cross-cultural competence and designing and assessing training programmes in this vital area. The author introduces the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS), Bennett's conceptual framework for understanding the developmental stages of intercultural competence, and the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), a psychometric instrument for measuring cross-cultural competence and training needs, in both individuals and groups, and assessing training outcomes.     

Accreditation,Job Opportunities,and Professional Application for Canadian Teachers Trained in Australia

Over the past decade, Australian universities have been at the forefront in the recruitment of international students into professional programmes. These students undertake a variety of postgraduate programmes in such professions as nursing, computing, and education, but there is not a great deal of documented systematic evidence regarding the effects of such training on the professional aspirations and experiences of these graduates once they return to their countries of origin. This article attempts to provide such an assessment through case studies and interviews with forty-six Canadian students who were trained in Australia to become teachers in Canada. Access to a large number of alumni is of assistance in formulating a relatively accurate picture of the value of professional training in the context of a foreign location, at least in the teaching profession.     

Seeking conceptual clarity in the action modalities

This article begins with the presumption that action learning has not made as deep an impact in promoting participatory social change as its supporters may have hoped for, but nor has its cousin action modalities, such as action research and action science. These action strategies have evolved separately along distinct traditions and, rather than focus on their commonalities, their proponents have tended to cite their differences from one another. As a result, they have seldom stood together to advocate for their shared epistemology based on practice as the fundamental unit of analysis. Accordingly, after briefly summarizing the history and differences among these action modalities, this article will focus on their potential confederation. It cites ten unifying elements that may construct an agenda characterized by the value of learners collectively reflecting on planned engagements that can not only expand but can create knowledge while at the same time serving to improve practice.     

Listening to People Listening to Music: Lessons for Museums

The language people use to talk about something can constrain as well as facilitate understanding. This essay explores the lessons learned through a study of how people talked about music to examine what it can mean for museums and museum experiences. The study itself had people talk about their interest, background, and ways of engaging with music, then listen to random cuts of preselected music to talk about what they were hearing. Several themes emerged from the study, suggesting there are clusters to ways in which people frame their experiences of music, which extend to how people might understand the museum experience and what museums might do to make that experience more relevant.