Denominational primary schooling: The case of Trinidad and Tobago

In developing countries, the trend has been for government to assume gradual control of schools run by religious organisations, while allowing them to retain their religious affiliation. In the Caribbean, the relationship between church and state educational systems has generally been cordial. This is particularly so in Trinidad and Tobago, where almost three quarters of the primary schools are denominational: Roman Catholic, other Christian, Hindu and Muslim. However, a significant proportion of pupils do not adhere to the host faith. Demographic trends and internal migration have disturbed the previous pattern of population, but the most important factor is the influence of the Common Entrance Examination, which controls entry to secondary education. Certain primary schools achieve high pass rates and attract large numbers of applicants from all sectors of society, while School Boards and principals accept over-population and set entry criteria other than religious affiliation. Variation in curricula is limited by recently drafted requirements, the government provides the bulk of school funds, and regularly inspects all schools. Such controls may enable the present government to fulfil its intention of deemphasising the Common Entrance Examination, but it thereby runs the risk of endangering the religious tolerance engendered by the present multidenominational nature of religious schools.

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Zusammenfassung In Entwicklungsländern ging das Bestreben der Regierung dahin, allmählich die Kontrolle über die von religiösen Organisationen geführten Schulen zu übernehmen und ihnen dabei ihre religiöse Bindung zu belassen. In der Karibik bestand bisher im allgemeinen ein herzliches Verhätnis zwischen Kirche und staatlichen Erziehungseinrichtungen. Dies gilt besonders für Trinidad und Tobago, wo fast drei Viertel der Grundschulen Konfessionsschulen sind: römisch-katholisch, anderweitig christlich, hinduistisch und moslemisch. Eine große Anzahl von Schülern gehört allerdings nicht der Glaubensrichtung der Schule an. Demografische Trends und Bevölkerungsfluktuation haben frühere Bevölkerungsmuster verändert, aber der wichtigste Punkt ist der Einfluß der allgemeinen Aufnahmeprüfung, die den Eintritt in die weiterführenden Schulen reguliert.Einige Grundschulen haben hohe Erfolgsraten und ziehen dadurch viele Bewerber aus allen Gesellschaftsschichten an, wobei Schulbehörden und Schulleiter eine Überbelegung akzeptieren und andere Aufnahmekriterien als religiöse Zugehörigkeit festsetzen. Änderungsmöglichkeiten im Curriculum sind durch kürzlich herausgegebene Anforderungsrichtlinien eingeschränkt; die Regierung zahlt den größten Teil der Schulmittel und inspiziert regelmäßig alle Schulen. Diese Kontrollen mögen es zwar der gegenwärtigen Regierung ermöglichen, ihre Absicht, die Bedeutung der allgemeinen Aufnahmeprüfung zu schwächen, zu verwirklichen, aber sie riskiert gleichzeitig, die durch die gegenwärtigen multikonfessionellen Religionsschulen ausgelöste religiöse Toleranz zu gefährden.

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Résumé Dans les pays en développement, le gouvernement assume habituellement le contrôle continu des écoles régies par les organisations religieuses, tout en leur permettant de conserver leur adhésion religieuse. Aux Caraïbes, la relation entre les systèmes éducatifs publics et religieux est généralement cordiale. C'est particulièrement le cas à Trinité-et-Tobago, où presque les trois quarts des écoles primaires sont des écoles confessionnelles: catholiques romaines, diverses écoles chrétiennes, écoles hindoues et musulmanes. Cependant, un nombre important d'élèves n'adhère pas à la religion de l'école. Les tendances démographiques et la migration interne ont changé l'ancienne structure de la population, mais le facteur majeur reste l'influence de l'Examen général d'entrée, qui réglemente l'entrée dans le secondaire. Certaines écoles primaires ont un taux de réussite élevé et attirent de nombreux candidats issus de tous les secteurs de la société, tandis que les conseils et les directeurs d'écoles acceptent une surpopulation et fixent d'autres critères d'admission que ceux d'appartenance religieuse. La diversité des programmes d'études est limitée par des contraintes mises en place récemment, le gouvernement octroie l'ensemble des crédits à l'éducation et inspecte régulièrement tous les établissements scolaires. Pareils contrôles peuvent permettre au présent gouvernement d'imposer sa volonté pour diminuer l'importance de l'Examen général d'entrée, mails ils risquent en même temps de mettre en danger la tolérance religieuse engendrée aujourd'hui par la nature multiconfessionnelle des écoles religieuses.

     

Network Organizations: Symmetric Cooperation or Multivalent Negotiation?

The network model of organization plays a central role in recent sociological accounts of the information economy. This model is also often presented in organization and information and communication technologies (ICT) literature with an air of enthusiasm that underscores its advantages—flexibility, cooperative culture, innovativeness, and knowledge and technology intensity. Such themes are usually based on a “networking logic” that assumes the trustful cooperation of large and small production firms in a rapidly changing economic environment. We believe that both the logic and the themes based upon it are too narrow to be able to explain the complex dimensions of interorganizational networking. Using Enron as a case study, our goal in this article is to enrich the logic just described and to develop an extended model of the network enterprise. We argue that this is only possible by extending the unit of analysis beyond the production firm, to include, among others, subsidiaries, banks, investors, auditors, and government agencies. The proposed extended model allows the broadening of many of the aforementioned themes, making it possible to arrive at a realistic picture of the complexities of the network enterprise. The managerial advantages of the model are also discussed.     

A Synchronous Online Social Work PhD Program: Educational Design and Student/Faculty Response

ABSTRACT

Faculty and students evaluate the curriculum design and delivery of a synchronous online PhD program in social work that prepares scholar-practitioners in social work research, education, and organizational practice. The designers envision a collaborative community of scholars and leaders nurtured by a cohort-based, sequenced curriculum, and intentional faculty mentoring. This teaching and learning platform provides an opportunity to engage with a globally diverse population of doctoral students while fostering both relationships and quality learning outcomes. Educational design and pedagogical features of the program are described and analyzed through the collaborative thinking and learning platform of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model’s interdependent elements–teaching, cognitive, and social presence. Eighteen students and ten faculty evaluated the strengths and limitations of the online program across each dimension of the model through student course evaluations, focus-group reflections, and qualitative faculty survey data. Student and faculty respondents specified the benefits of synchronous presence across all three dimensions. They also identified significant barriers, particularly in the areas of teaching and social presence. Implications and recommendations are based on a review of findings that inform pedagogical decisions and design options for online PhD education in social work.     

Access and targeting: an exploration of a contradiction

To attempt to understand Access to Higher Education provision as an educational social movement is to become caught up in a dialectial dilemma. Is Access allied to the older radical traditions of adult education through a collective emancipatory role or is its role to serve the educational needs of the individual student and/or the economic needs of society? Research carried out at the University of Exeter has shown that while there is a strong rhetoric within the Access movement that supports the more emancipatory approach, practitioners contradict this when questioned about the prime purpose of Access. Gramsci's theory of cultural hegemony can be used to address this contradiction by examining how sub‐cultures, such as the group of Access practitioners, create a mosaic of meaning or a reality map which is drawn from the conflicting ideologies which surround them.     

The impact of support staff on pupils’ ‘positive approaches to learning’ and their academic progress

In recent years there has been an unprecedented increase in support staff in schools in England and Wales. There were widespread expectations that this will be of benefit to teachers and pupils but there has been little systematic research to address the impact of support staff. This study used a naturalistic longitudinal design to investigate the relationship between the amount of support (measured by teacher estimates and systematic observation) and pupils’ ‘Positive Approaches to Learning’ (PAL) and academic progress. There were over 8000 pupils across two cohorts and seven age groups. Results on PAL were not straightforward by there was a consistent trend for those with most support to make less academic progress than similar pupils with less support, and this was not explained by characteristics of the pupils such as piror attainment or level of special educational need.     

Want to improve sexual health education for girls? Include body image

Research suggests body image is related to sexual behaviors, which can impact sexual health across the lifespan. This paper aims to explain the necessity for including body image content in sexuality education to improve outcomes among girls. Our recommendations, supported by theory and empirical research include (a) an assessment of existing curricula; (b) designing new, theoretically-informed curricula; (c) using innovative technology in sex education; (d) rigorous evaluation of existing and new curricula; and (e) revising the National Sexuality Education Standards. These recommendations are discussed after providing the necessary background and rationale.