Fostering Intelligent Moderation in the Next Generation: Insights from Remida-Inspired Reuse Materials Education

ABSTRACT

Ecologically minded leaders and early childhood teacher educators offer a culturally significant shiny fish project in their community as a way to launch an environmental-material reuse project. Questioning if environmental collapse is imminent, their project investigation of developing a locally relevant Remida Reggio-inspired center serves as hope for reconceptualizing early childhood practices, offering innovations, and fostering intelligent moderation of earthly resources. Finding widening circles of influence and engaging participants are key to nurturing hope, and these educators draw implications to manifest a large and impactful vision and call to action.     

Migrants and the language of instruction: Is the EU policy deficit driving new innovations in social inclusion?

Language learning has long been seen as an important tool for achieving European Union (EU) targets for social inclusion. However, “mainstream” policy instruments like the Action Plan on Promoting Language Learning and Linguistic Diversity and the European Charter for Minority Languages have been undermined in recent years by the effects of the global financial crisis, which has contributed to the widespread decimation of welfare budgets in many EU member states. This has been accompanied by the increasing influence of a “neo-liberal” discourse in welfare and social service policies and practices, leading to the delegation of responsibility for service provision from central, regional and local government to commercial enterprises, civil society and, ultimately, to citizens themselves. At the same time, the gaps in service provision that have resulted from this “financial crisis” have opened up new opportunities for social innovators. New kinds of organisations are beginning to develop and apply new approaches using language learning to deliver innovative services aimed, for example, at supporting the integration of immigrants in society. Using case study analysis, this paper explores how these new approaches have developed, what kinds of innovation are being delivered and the contribution these social innovations are making to broader EU social inclusion objectives.     

Studying and Teaching White‐Collar Crime: Populist and Patrician Perspectives

White‐collar crime is both an integral part of undergraduate criminology courses and textbooks and the subject of enduring analytic controversy. Much of the latter can be traced to two conflicting but unrecognized conceptual paradigms employed by investigators and teachers when they examine white‐collar crime: Populist and Patrician. These perspectives differ in definitional approach to the concept, explicit recognition of the criminality of offenses committed by respectable citizens, how much attention is paid to the victims and costs of white‐collar crime, the analytic centrality of criminalization, and the variables and dynamics that purportedly explain variation in offending. Preference for one or the other analytic paradigm to some extent is predictable on the basis of a scholar’s educational background, type of institutional placement and disciplinary training. Explicit acknowledgment and pedagogical use of conflicting paradigms hold the potential to enhance students’ ability to think critically about white‐collar crime. It also makes clear that the disagreements that plague this area of inquiry are deeply rooted and thus are unlikely to be resolved soon.     

Considerations for Integrating Technology in Developing Communities in Latin America

This article discusses issues related to introducing new information and communication technologies (ICT) into Latin American countries. Latin American countries are gaining world focus with political changes such as the death of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and the election of the first Latin American Pope. This region will host the World Cup, Olympics and IMF World Bank annual meetings in the next 5 years; meanwhile they are projected to continueto experience moderate economic growth (IMF Survey, 2013). We suggest that successful innovation may be achieved through a combination of fundamental concepts of change with a culturally sensitive approach. This article discusses general concerns related to the diffusion of new technologies, the importance of cultural context, and the organization needed within the community for success. The literature review is based three assertions the characteristics of the native culture, general concerns of innovation for new technologies, and the context and organization needed by the community. We assert that to have successful integration of ICTs, innovators must understand the needs of the individuals who will use the innovation, as well as, the key factors that influence the culture, stakeholders, and common goals of the community and employ a strategy that utilizes industry, government and educators to produce lasting change.     

Using the Case Method to Introduce Information Skill Development in the MBA Curriculum

Effective use of information is a key component of the manager's job. In a business environment burdened by information overload, the question for MBA programs is how to provide instruction so their graduates have the necessary foundations in this skill. Business managers use information during the decision-making process, so students need to learn about and build the capabilities to use information effectively. Many information professionals at business schools have been investigating ways to effectively impart these skills. The instruction described, using the case method and coteaching with a faculty member to introduce information skill development, adds to this work.     

Genetic research and genetic information: a health information professional's perspective on the benefits and risks

BACKGROUND: The completion of the Human Genome Project, and recent breakthroughs in identifying the genes both directly responsible for and contributing to the severity of specific diseases and disabilities in humans offer great potential for future health care. AIM: The aim of the paper is to inform the health information community of these developments in order to foster debate over their wide-reaching implications. METHODS: The article outlines recent research in this area and explains how our growing understanding opens the way for improved diagnosis of disease, detection of possible predisposition to specific diseases, the interaction between genetics and environmental aspects such as diet, as well as enabling gene therapy and preventative actions. This new knowledge also opens the way for the use of pharmacogenetic information to enhance the efficacy of pharmaceuticals and to avoid toxic reactions. RESULTS: These advances have significant social, legal and ethical implications. Most countries have limited legislative control over the use and protection of genetic information about individuals. CONCLUSION: There is a role for health information professionals to play in promoting wider public knowledge of genetic research and its implications, in fostering public debate on key issues, and in seeking clearer policies in the health sector concerning the use of genetic information about individuals.