Envisioning a critical social pedagogy of learning and work in a contemporary culture of cyclical lifelong learning

In Canada, current federal learning-and-work policy is focused on individual learner-worker development using an iteration of lifelong learning as cyclical. This policy aims to enhance the social as an effect of enhancing the economic. In this neoliberal milieu, cyclical lifelong learning has become not only a norm but also a culture and an attitude. Still, a current Canadian phenomenon indicates that increasing numbers of young adults are disengaging from participation in such learning that the federal government considers being a preventive measure. In discussing their withdrawal from what might be perceived as cyclical lifelong learning for control, I consider a particularly challenging case: the predicament of young adults in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. To help us think about adequately addressing the dislocation they experience in life and work, I offer a Freire-informed vision of a critical social pedagogy of learning and work. This pedagogy calls for re-engendering the social in lifelong learning by revitalizing critical social concerns with historical awareness, hope, possibility, ethics, justice, democratic vision, learner freedom, critique, and intervention.     

USE OF CRITICAL INCIDENTS FOR PLANNING,IMPLEMENTING, AND EVALUATING A TRAINING PROGRAM FOR FOSTER GRANDPARENTS

The authors report the planning, implementation, and evaluation of a training program for foster grandparents employed at a residential diagnostic and treatment center for disturbed children and youth. The training needs were assessed by task and performance analysis procedures, including the use of critical incident technique. A scoring procedure derived values for various responses to a set of problem situations presented to each foster grandparent. The training objectives focused on the role of the foster grandparents in helping their charges to develop socially acceptable behavior. A cognitive problem‐solving strategy was taught by use primarily of role‐modeling and role‐playing methods. The effectiveness of training was evaluated by comparing pretraining scores on a problem situation test with posttraining scores. Foster grandparents who had been highly rated by supervisors on an independent criterion improved with training; the others did not.     

Constraints Affecting ICT Utilization by Agricultural Extension Officers in the Niger Delta,Nigeria

Abstract

The study focused on constraints affecting the utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for agricultural extension activities by Agricultural Extension Officers in Nigeria's Niger Delta Region. Data were derived from 160 extension officers affiliated to both public and private extension organizations in four states of the Niger Delta. Findings revealed important specific constraints to include: poor ICT infrastructure development, high cost of broadcast equipment, high charges for radio/television presentations, high cost of access/interconnectivity and electricity power problems. The use of Factor Analysis aided to crystallize identified constraints into three factors of ‘poor enabling environment’, ‘lack of access’ and ‘dissemination of unrelated information’. Against the background of several national government initiatives to develop the infrastructure base of the country, recommendations are proffered to ameliorate ICT use constraints.     

The role of learned resourcefulness in helping female undergraduates deal with unwanted sexual activity

We examined the relationship between learned resourcefulness skills and the manner in which undergraduate heterosexual women handle unwanted sexual advances/activity. Participants consisted of 150 females completing a set of questionnaires assessing general learned resourcefulness, sexual giving-in experience, sexual resourcefulness, sexual self-efficacy and reasons for consent. The hypothesis that possessing a higher general repertoire of learned resourcefulness skills would uniquely predict greater sexual self-control with unwanted sexual advances was supported. Physical contact with men, greater sexual victimization, more reasons for consenting, and less use of sexual resourcefulness skills all directly contributed to voluntarily giving-in behavior. Implications for sexuality education and counseling are discussed.     

Cognitive load and knowledge sharing in Learning Networks

Learning Networks (LNs) are online social networks designed to support nonformal learning; they are therefore particularly suitable for self-directed learners. In LNs, learners need to construct knowledge through knowledge sharing with other participants. However, without support, learners have to organize knowledge sharing themselves and this could induce extraneous cognitive load. When working on complex learning tasks, this organizing process could have a detrimental effect on knowledge construction. To optimize cognitive load, we propose using a peer support system that applies the mechanisms of peer tutoring to support knowledge sharing. Its mechanisms reduce, we argue, the extraneous load imposed by having to organize knowledge sharing as well as induce germane load by directing the freed-up cognitive capacity to processes that contribute to knowledge construction.     

How Will They Understand if We Don’t Teach Them? The Status of Criminal Justice Education on Gay and Lesbian Issues

Inclusion of race and gender in criminal justice education has, to some degree, been prompted as a result of perceived bias by criminal justice system professionals. Utilizing the race and gender experience as a template, interactions between the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) community and the criminal justice system are explored. This study surveyed criminal justice undergraduate degree programs to ascertain course content on gay and lesbian issues. Results indicate that an extremely small number of programs have such a course or alternatively incorporate GLBT issues within existing race and gender courses. Implications for criminal justice education are discussed.     

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT IN TEXAS TWO-YEAR COLLEGES

To discover the organizational components that nurture good teaching in Texas two-year colleges, I undertook the task of replicating a study of Ohio two-year colleges. A review of the literature uncovered several variables for assessing faculty development. The most important of these appears to be an institutional climate that encourages faculty development. To assess faculty development, a 65-item survey was sent to all Texas two-year colleges. Although the results of the Texas study are more encouraging than those of the Ohio study, Texas community colleges could be doing more to support faculty development.     

Resampling and Distribution of the Product Methods for Testing Indirect Effects in Complex Models

Recent advances in testing mediation have found that certain resampling methods and tests based on the mathematical distribution of 2 normal random variables substantially outperform the traditional z test. However, these studies have primarily focused only on models with a single mediator and 2 component paths. To address this limitation, a simulation was conducted to evaluate these alternative methods in a more complex path model with multiple mediators and indirect paths with 2 and 3 paths. Methods for testing contrasts of 2 effects were evaluated also. The simulation included 1 exogenous independent variable, 3 mediators and 2 outcomes and varied sample size, number of paths in the mediated effects, test used to evaluate effects, effect sizes for each path, and the value of the contrast. Confidence intervals were used to evaluate the power and Type I error rate of each method, and were examined for coverage and bias. The bias-corrected bootstrap had the least biased confidence intervals, greatest power to detect nonzero effects and contrasts, and the most accurate overall Type I error. All tests had less power to detect 3-path effects and more inaccurate Type I error compared to 2-path effects. Confidence intervals were biased for mediated effects, as found in previous studies. Results for contrasts did not vary greatly by test, although resampling approaches had somewhat greater power and might be preferable because of ease of use and flexibility.     

Attitudes Towards and Limitations to ICT Use in Assisted and Independent Living Communities: Findings from a Specially-Designed Technological Intervention

Much literature has been devoted to theoretical explanations of the learning processes of older adults and to the methods of teaching best utilized in older populations. However, there has been less focus on the education of older adults who reside in assisted and independent living communities (AICs), especially with regards to information and communication technology (ICT) education. The purpose of this study is to determine whether participants' attitudes and views towards computers and the Internet are affected as a result of participating in an eight-week training program designed to enhance computer and Internet use among older adults in such communities. Specifically, we examine if ICT education specially designed for AIC residents results in more positive attitudes towards ICTs and a perceived decrease in factors that may limit or prevent computer and Internet use. We discuss the implications of these results for enhancing the quality of life for older adults in AICs and make recommendations for those seeking to decrease digital inequality among older adults in these communities through their own ICT classes.