The Students' Faculties

In this paper, we question how we might disrupt positivist research paradigms that preclude students from engaging and experiencing ownership in the research process. We question what we, as professors, could do to facilitate the transition from traditional research reporting to a disposition of inquiry that allows for ambiguity and discovery in the research process.

Evidence presented was gathered over the course of a two-year qualitative research project completed in a capstone education course. Like most capstone courses, we required a summative research paper, but student work suggested they had minimal interest or enthusiasm for the project. However, by redirecting our students' research interest from traditional research reporting to the generation of authentic research questions drawn from their student teaching experience, a solution emerged. The students' questions provided the basis for the ensuing qualitative inquiry project that afforded them a new and authentic type of inquiry.

This paper describes the process our students engaged in to complete this qualitative inquiry, including the identification of the research question and analysis of field notes and documents. It concludes by sharing samples of the students' research questions and findings that illustrate the authentic inquiry and ownership they experienced as a result of the project.     

Knowing Communities: A Review of Community Assessment Literature

Since the late 1800s library and information science (LIS) publications have discussed community assessment as a process for librarians to acknowledge the distinct needs and interests of their communities and respond by meeting those needs. The varied publications on the topic do not authorize any community assessment model or conceptual framework as the professional standard. This literature review examines community assessment publications, primarily in LIS. Instructional resources and publications provide a variety of suggestions for methods of conducting community assessments, while case studies illustrate the successes and challenges of various methods. Librarians must continue community engagement and advance cultural awareness in community assessment.     

Knowledge Management,Diversity, and Professional Hierarchies in Libraries

Abstract

The structure and culture of libraries present distinct challenges for promoting knowledge sharing among staff. Existing knowledge management literature is largely focused on for-profit businesses, overlooking issues found in public institutions. This article summarizes some key organizational culture theories and related obstacles to successful knowledge management and highlights how the departmental design and staffing of many libraries inadvertently reinforces these problems. The concerns discussed include insufficient diversity in decision making, the stratification of knowledge along professional lines, and entrenched personal and group identities. Some practical solutions are offered, along with suggestions for future areas of research.     

Second Chance Programmes: a response to educational needs in compulsory education

This paper asks whether the integrated training provision currently offered through the different Spanish Second Chance Programmes (SCPs) constitutes a valid response to the educational needs and deficits known to exist among those young people who do not satisfactorily complete the Compulsory Secondary Education stage (ESO). The objectives of the current Social Guarantee Programmes (SGPs) are examined, as are the characteristics of the young people who participate in them. The Programmes of Initial Vocational Qualification (PCPI) envisaged in the most recent educational legislation are also discussed. Having identified the key factors which the empirical studies suggest influence the effectiveness of these programmes in addressing the educational needs and training deficiencies of the young people involved, a number of proposals are presented in connection with the training needs of teaching staff. The paper concludes with a number of proposals for improving the educational response to the challenges that the new perspectives and expectations raise for the development of a system of inclusive education to overcome the education deficits of the young people concerned.     

问题解决视域的实践共同体建构研究

作为提高大学生的实践能力和创新能力的有效途径,实践共同体正受到教育领域研究者越来越多的关注,当前实践共同体的建构研究主要借鉴共同体的研究成果,对实践共同体的实践特性关注不够。从问题解决视角看,劣构问题解决是实践共同体中实践的主要方式,基于劣构问题解决过程及其影响因素研究实践共同体建构,不仅适切而且必然。文章在阐释实践能力和实践共同体内涵的基础上,探索劣构问题的解决过程、影响因素,继而提出了相应的实践共同体建构策略。     

Leadership and social capital: engaging small Australian communities in development and implementation of learning plans

ABSTRACT

The paper explores the processes by which two Australian rural communities established Community Learning Plans (CLPs). It acknowledges the role of CLPs as contributors to social and economic change through influencing employment rates, income equity, social cohesion and reduction in poverty. In addressing the research question: What factors contribute to the effective development and implementation of a CLP in a small rural community? The paper reveals the importance of evidence and clarity of vision such as improved social and economic outcomes as core rationales for triggering the development of CLPs. The analysis of leadership and social capital resources drawn upon from trigger for a CLP through initiation, development and reflection to sustainable embedding in community, reveals the interplay between formal community leadership structures such as Council, community members, education, business, training and social services, and external actors as a predicator of communities’ ability to enact CLPs. Maturity of social capital resources and leadership processes and resources influence the development and implementation of plans in alignment with community needs and aspirations. The paper advocates for reward and recognition frameworks to help connect, engage and sustain stakeholder groups into community learning initiatives through providing relevance to their business or activity.     

Unlocking the gates: how and why elite universities are opening up access to their courses,by Taylor Walsh, 2011, Princeton,New Jersey,Princeton University Press, 296 pp., $29.95 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-69-114874-8

This paper presents a case study of the nature of an online community that exists amongst students in a full‐time teacher education program delivered at a distance. Students differentiate between two principal areas of their community—learning and support—and appear to act differently in relation to those areas. The nature of those differences is explored through the students' words as a way of enriching understanding of the complex nature of online learning communities.     

‘How are we going to do it?’ An exploration of the barriers to access to higher education amongst young people from disadvantaged communities

The number of young people progressing to higher education (HE) in Ireland has grown significantly over the last three decades but inequality of access and participation remain a major policy challenge. This article sets out to explore the factors which impact on levels of participation in HE by young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, based on interviews and focus groups with 70 secondary school students and 25 parents in three case-study locations. In line with previous research, we found that financial considerations continue to have an important influence on decisions about whether to go on to higher education. The findings in relation to young people’s aspirations and orientations to HE present a more complex picture. While the majority of students aspired to go on to HE, this was countered by a lack of confidence in relation to certain aspects of college life, both social and academic.     

国际创业研究25年：主题演进与学者群体

创业研究正在走向成熟与独立吗?通过回顾过去25年里创业领域各个研究主题与学者群体的产生与演进,考察了研究的共识水平以及知识基础,进而尝试着回答了这一问题。最后展望了创业研究的未来。