Structure reconsidered: Towards new foundations of explanatory transitions theory

The most prominent framework for studying socio-technical transitions to date is the multi-level perspective (MLP). While appreciated for its flexibility and usefulness for studying socio-technical transitions it has not been without its critics. In this paper we focus on the ontological foundations of the MLP and its (in)ability to explain transitions and how they come about. The purpose is to initiate development of an explanatory theory for socio-technical transitions, by carrying out an immanent critique of the ontological foundations of the MLP together with a methodological critique. We show that the ontological foundations of the MLP to a large extent inhibits explanatory capacity. The argument is fourfold: since structure and agency are understood as inseparable, (i) the causal influence of material properties are undervalued, and (ii) different degrees of structural constraint and freedom of actors are ignored. As a consequence (iii) transitions are reduced to shifts in the maturity and spread of socio-cognitive rules, without analysis of systemic change. Moreover, (iv) mechanisms are reduced to recurring patterns of events which cannot explain why some transitions fail while others succeed. To remedy these limitations we outline alternative critical realist foundations for transitions theory.     

Ranking scholars: A measure representation

A scholar can be identified with his citation list and a scholar ranking is a complete order on the set of scholars. We characterize those scholar rankings that admit a measure representation.     

Lifelong learning policies for vulnerable young adults in post-recession Scotland

Abstract

This article shows how the Scottish Government’s (SG) political management of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) has reinforced the economic goals of lifelong learning (LLL) under the skills for work agenda. Youth unemployment has been prioritized as the main social problem to be addressed, and most of the limited public resources for LLL have been targeted towards youth at risk of unemployment at the expense of the rest of the adult population. The article adopts a Cultural Political Economy perspective to examine LLL policy discourses contained in 12 policy documents published by the SG during the period between the Scottish National Party’s arrival in power and the Independence Referendum (2007–2014). The analysis draws attention to the fact that the GFC has been used by the SG to legitimize selective cuts to the further education sector as well as a stronger labour market orientation within LLL provision.     

Engaging children in lessons: the role of efficient and effective teachers

The training of effective teachers has been one of the main aims of educational systems, in so far as it could be an important tool to improve the education performance of children and, consequently, contribute to their career progression and foster social mobility towards a more meritocratic society. The present study intends to identify these teachers by their ability to engage young students in lessons, which may reflect the capacity of their teaching practices and efficient use of available resources to increase students’ learning. We focus on 4th-grade reading and mathematics teachers in Spain – using TIMSS and PIRLS 2011 data – and we propose a 2-step procedure for this analysis: the 1st step obtains teachers’ efficiency scores, which are later employed in a 2nd step – together with teachers’ practices – to explain children’s engagement in lessons.     

Quality of Prekindergarten: What Families Are Looking for in Public Sponsored Programs

This study describes the meaning of program quality for a representative group of parents of children enrolled in public prekindergarten programs. Educators often conceptualized quality in terms of structural or process indicators; parents most often cited teacher experience and relationship to children. Families, like educators, emphasized enhancing readiness as central to program quality. In addition, families identified 3 classes of indicators not usually included in educational research or professional discussions of program quality: comprehensive service provision, convenient location, and home-school collaboration. In the decision to enroll children in a program, Whites more often relied on indicators of the classroom emotional climate, Latinos more often examined the provision of comprehensive services, and African Americans more often weighed the quality of home-school partnerships than their ethnic counterparts. For Latinos living in poverty, the concern about dual language development was salient. African Americans emphasized the importance of a close relationship with staff.     

Observed classroom quality profiles in state-funded pre-kindergarten programs and associations with teacher,program, and classroom characteristics

In the past decade in the United States, pre-kindergarten programs for four year olds have expanded rapidly as a potentially powerful intervention intended to promote school readiness for children at-risk for future school failure. This paper describes in detail multi-dimensional profiles of observed quality across 692 classrooms in 11 states representing 80% of these available programs and examines teacher, program, and classroom characteristics associated in these profiles. Cluster analysis enabled the detection of patterns that fit profiles of high and low overall emotional and instructional support along with “mid-range” patterns in which emotional support is somewhat higher than instructional support. Associations between teacher characteristics and program characteristics were generally not significant. However, the poorest quality profile was associated with classroom poverty level, suggesting that the children who need the highest quality educational experiences have teachers who are struggling the most to provide it.     

Measures of classroom quality in prekindergarten and children's development of academic, language, and social skills

This study examined development of academic, language, and social skills among 4-year-olds in publicly supported prekindergarten (pre-K) programs in relation to 3 methods of measuring pre-K quality, which are as follows: (a) adherence to 9 standards of quality related to program infrastructure and design, (b) observations of the overall quality of classroom environments, and (c) observations of teachers' emotional and instructional interactions with children in classrooms. Participants were 2,439 children enrolled in 671 pre-K classrooms in 11 states. Adjusting for prior skill levels, child and family characteristics, program characteristics, and state, teachers' instructional interactions predicted academic and language skills and teachers' emotional interactions predicted teacher-reported social skills. Findings suggest that policies, program development, and professional development efforts that improve teacher–child interactions can facilitate children's school readiness.     

The characterization of commercial artists’ alkyd paints

There is little information in the conservation literature with respect to artists’ alkyd paints; thus, artists and conservators are somewhat at a loss about how to use and treat alkyds. Recently, analytical methods have been developed to identify the components in these polymers (oil modified polyesters), rates of cross-linking and mechanical properties. Presented in this paper are some of the characterization results of artists’ alkyd paints using THM (thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation) gas chromatography– mass spectrometry (THM–GC/MS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy–attenuated total reflectance (FTIR–ATR). Four brands of artists’ alkyd paints containing alkyd resin have been analysed; one containing a phthalic anhydride and pentaerythritol based alkyd resin, two containing isophthalic acid and pentaerythritol based alkyd resins, and the final one containing both phthalic anhydride and isophthalic acid and pentaerythritol based resins among the colours studied.