Foods for health: Involving organizations in planned change

The development of effective strategies for planned change presents a challenge to an organization operating in a modern, complex society. A change agency often faces two barriers to the diffusion of innovations —the lack of direct contact with individual receivers on a daily basis, and limited and perhaps shrinking resources. Two strategies which help a change agency address these barriers are: a) the use of co‐change agencies in innovation development and b) the diffusion of innovations through other organizations at the system‐receiver level. The use and effectiveness of these modifications to the traditional diffusion model are illustrated in the development and diffusion of a health education program called Foods for Health.     

Reflections and distortions: Canadian folklore as portrayed in children’s literature

Abstract

In Great Britain and the United States common developmental issues have resulted in the evolution of two very different models of school library provision. In the United States, school libraries are integrated media centers, separate from public library influence, staffed by specialists with dual training in teaching and librarianship, and dedicated to an educational mission. British school libraries are contested terrain with two patterns of staffing, support by Public Library Services, and incomplete formulation of mission and rationale. This article discusses five factors which have facilitated or retarded school library development in the two countries (standards, staffing and certification, government support, rationale, professionalization) and generalizes about development factors and the successful promotion of school libraries.     

Toward a Dialogic Theory of Fundraising

ABSTRACT

In this case study research, the effectiveness of psychological support services rendered to students at a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college in South Africa is explored. Using the systems theory of psychology, the article postulates that students at TVET colleges encounter a myriad of psychological challenges, which can adversely affect their academic success. From an interpretivist paradigmatic standpoint, a sample of 30 students was purposively selected to participate in focus group interviews. It was found out that psychological support services improved students’ academic performances, attendance, retention, and also enhanced college certification rate. It is recommended that institution need to establish linkages with key stakeholders such as the Departments of Higher Education and Training and Health, psychological professional bodies, and other TVET colleges in order to create a platform for sharing vital information on psychological support to students.     

El diseño de unidades didácticas en L2 mediante tareas: Principios y desarrollo

El enfoque didáctico basado en tareas, que se presenta en los trabajos de Breen y de Candlin en este mismo número, cuenta en este artículo con un desarrollo detallado, que permitirá al lector aplicarlo al diseño de unidades didácticas concretas para la enseñanza de una L2, con una especificación de los pasos y de los niveles a seguir y con una guía para integrar estos diseños en el marco del modelo curricular adoptado en nuestro país desde la nueva Ley de Ordenación General del Sistema Educativo.     

Transatlantic moves to the market: the United States and the European Union

The theory of academic capitalism is used to explore US and EU marketization trajectories. Comparisons are made along the following dimensions: creation and expansion of intermediating organizations external to universities that promote closer relations between universities and markets; interstitial organizations that emerge from within universities that intersect various market oriented projects; narratives, discourses and social technologies that promote marketization and competition; expanded managerial capacity; new funding streams for research and programs close to the market; and new circuits of knowledge that move away from peer review and professional judgment as arbiters of excellence. We also consider the status of fields not closely integrated with external markets, and see fragmentation of the humanities, fine arts and (some) social sciences to be a sign of research universities marketization. We conclude that the US and EU are following very different paths to bring higher education closer to the market. The US move to the market was incremental and frequently led by a wide variety of non-governmental organizations, often with strong ties to the for-profit sector and participation by segments of universities prior to federal legislation or mandates. The European Commission is reverse engineering Anglo-American higher education models to reconstruct technologies of governance in uniquely European contexts that embed competition in nation-state initiatives. Although the discourse surrounding university marketization promises growth of high paying jobs prosperity, evidence to date suggests very uneven results for both the US and EU.     

Making the aural presentation of examination papers student friendly: an alternative to a reader in examinations

Where a student can benefit from having an examination paper presented aurally, the traditional method is to provide a reader. This can be socially uncomfortable for students, and offers of readers are frequently declined. A trial is reported in which examinations were presented on an Apple iPod. This is a medium with which many students are comfortable, which facilitates easy exploration of the examination paper and repetitive listening and which is both socially acceptable and practical in a normal examination room. The findings indicate that it removes one of the significant barriers to greater take‐up of aural presentation.     

Policies on special needs education: competing strategies and discourses

This paper critically examines the array of policy approaches that have been adopted in the field of special needs education in Scotland over recent years. These are characterized in the following ways: (1) supporting or changing the child—an individualized approach; (2) making schools inclusive for all—a systems approach; (3) challenging the mainstream—an anti‐discrimination approach. Each approach creates different distributions of power, accountability and resource allocation. They formulate categories and eligibility requirements that can both include and exclude children (and their parents), and create rights and duties with varied potential and limitations. Thus, the policy approaches may aver their promotion of inclusion but, in fact, they create a new quilt of inclusive and exclusive policies and practice. This is further examined through the analysis of official statistics, which suggests that there has been little difference in the proportion of children who are excluded spatially from mainstream schools and classrooms. Recent legislation, the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, claims to underpin a radical new approach to promoting inclusion. However, many features of the Act suggest that it will reinforce the power of professional groups, rather than investing more power in children and their parents. There is a real danger that, whilst policy frameworks shift, practices remain the same as a result of inertia and resistance to change.     

Approaches to dispute resolution in additional support needs in Scotland

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 aimed, among other things, to increase parents’ rights in relation to the education of their children. In addition to the creation of the Additional Supports Needs Tribunals for Scotland, parents were given new rights to challenge local authority decisions through mediation and independent adjudication. In line with the wider social policy thrust of encouraging proportionate dispute resolution, low‐level resolution of disputes at school and local authority level was also encouraged. This paper uses key informant interviews to explore the views of new dispute resolution arrangements, and whether the balance of power has indeed tipped in favour of parents. Local education authority officers expressed some concerns about the new measures, and were particularly critical of the tribunal on the grounds that it was expensive and stressful, although the role it might play in tightening up procedures was also recognised. Advocacy groups and parents’ organisations, on the other hand, welcomed the new measures but were concerned about the rules restricting access to the tribunal and the fact that the outcome of mediation and adjudications were not legally binding. They were also concerned about limited access to information and advocacy. Overall, key informants believed that the new measures had advanced parents’ rights to some extent, although further changes were needed to achieve a radical shift away from the post‐war dominance of bureaucracy and professionalism in Scotland.