Constructing citizenship in post-conflict contexts: the cases of Liberia and Rwanda

In post-conflict and fragile contexts, one central aim of education is to prepare citizens to rebuild society and manage conflict. In this paper, we discuss the ways that citizenship education, students’ civic attitudes, and student civic practices vary across two post-conflict contexts in Africa: Liberia and Rwanda. First, we consider the historical and current complexities of citizenship education in these countries drawing on a post-colonial framework and Osler and Starkey’s three dimensions of citizenship. Next, we discuss survey and interview data from secondary students based on separate multi-level case studies in the respective countries. We note differences and similarities in student conceptions of good citizenship, civic identity, classroom climate, and civic engagement across the two countries, as well as variation by school type and gender. Some notable findings included less active conceptions of citizenship and openness to discussing controversial issues in Rwanda than in Liberia, and less participation in out of school activities among young women than young men. These and other results highlight differing contextual values of development, security, freedom of speech, and civic action and the overall importance of citizenship education in a post-conflict context.     

我国行政区划改革的定位和动力分析

本文从我国行政区划改革的主体着手,尝试分析当前行政区划改革的自身定位和角色,建议以行政区划的改革作为我国行政体制改革的一个突破口,结合分析行政区划改革的自身动力和要求,有效地推动行政体制改革的进程。     

The effects of armed conflict on schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the past decades, most of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have been affected by armed conflicts. By means of a time-series cross-sectional (TSCS) database, we attempt to measure the impact of war on a sample of 43 countries in Africa from 1950 to 2010. These conflicts, and especially civil wars, are shown to have a strong negative effect on the educational performances of the countries studied. The rate of children not attending school, as well as secondary school enrollment rates, seems particularly sensitive to periods of conflict. It also appears that government expenditures in social sectors including education are a positive factor in increasing school enrollment. In contrast, military expenditure is significantly and inversely related to schooling opportunities. Thus, if an extra 1% only of the GDP were allocated to education expenditure, the rate of children not attending school would decrease by 1.7%, the primary and secondary completion rates would increase respectively by 4.4% and by 2.6%. The gender analysis shows that education expenditures provide a better retention of girls in the school system.     

全球主要经济体企业科技创新版图分析及启示——中国企业加强基础研究是建设创新型国家的必然选择

企业创新能力是科技强国的重要体现,而基础研究是科技创新的源泉。基础研究的执行主体无疑是高校和国家科研机构,而企业在基础研究活动中扮演什么角色？一直以来存在不同观点。文章立足宏观,首先对基础研究的内涵进行探讨,明确企业基础研究的应用导向属性;然后从基础研究投入、科研论文、《专利合作条约》（PCT）专利、国家竞争力指标等多个维度分析全球主要经济体企业的表现,由此构建全球主要经济体企业创新版图。通过分析比较,文章发现：（1）发达经济体的企业重视基础研究,形成大量持续创新型的百年老店;（2）改革开放以来的40多年,中国企业创新能力整体上取得巨大进步,但基础研究是短板,这是历史发展阶段所决定的。由此,文章认为,当前中国已经进入高质量发展阶段,中国企业通过合适的方式围绕行业发展未来实质性地加强基础研究,既是企业增强自身竞争力的需求,也是建设创新型国家不可或缺的。文章最后讨论了中国企业开展基础研究的若干方式。     

Notes on contributors

This research examines Zambian teachers’ perceptions of expert teaching, as identified by characteristics possessed by a theoretical “expert teacher”. One primary question guided the study: In the minds of teachers at basic schools (grades one to nine) in Choma District, Zambia, what specific characteristics are believed to be essential for teachers to possess in order to be an expert teacher? Additionally, an ancillary question was explored concerning the relationship between teacher perceptions of expert teachers and the local environments where they live and teach. Conducted in 2008, this study utilized qualitative methods to explore these questions. The results of the research revealed six characteristics Zambian teachers believe are essential to being an expert. The characteristics have implications for change within national educational policies, teacher training programs, and individual schools. These suggested modifications, in turn, have the potential to improve the overall quality of education in Zambian schools.     

An analysis of community involvement in primary schools in Malawi

Through a secondary analysis of standardised test data, the paper reviews community involvement in Malawian primary schools and examines the extent to which it explains variation in pupil test scores. In so doing, the study deconstructs the concept of community involvement, demonstrating that it is not a unitary concept but rather made up of multiple effects which can be categorised into different modes: “learner support”, “financing” and “networking”. The framework developed may help with future research and the results caution policymakers in Malawi on the current reality of community participation and how this relates to existing policy ambitions.     

联合国“撒哈拉以南非洲师资培训计划”评析

撒哈拉以南非洲各国的教师数量短缺且质量不高给普及基础教育的目标提出巨大挑战。为此,联合国科教文组织在该地区组织实施了一项为期十年针对小学教师的撒哈拉以南非洲师资培训计划(TTISSA),致力于提高该地区小学教师地位与改善教师工作条件,改革师资管理的行政体制,开发适切的教师教育政策,提升教师专业的质量标准并确保其专业发展的连贯性。该计划的实施取得了一些成绩,但仍面临着重重困难。其原因是多方面的,主要表现为:计划的总经费不足、组织效率低下、政策本土化程度低以及各国教师教育经费极度缺乏等。     

Report of the UNESCO “Training the Trainers in Information Literacy” (“TTT”) Workshop Ankara,Turkey, September 3–5, 2008

The purpose of this article is to explore the use of mixed methods research (MMR) in articles published in library and information science (LIS) journals in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) from 2004 to 2008. A mixed methods research framework provided in the methodological literature is used to determine how this method was practiced within the LIS scientific community in SSA. Six hundred and eighty five articles published in nine peer-reviewed LIS journals in SAA were reviewed, finding the dominant research methods in these journals to be survey designs and historical research. The use of MMR was limited: 48 out of 685 articles used the mixed methods approaches that were identified in the methodological literature. A paradigm shift and a change of mindset are recommended for LIS researchers in SSA so that they may exploit the advantages offered by mixed methods research in conducting their studies.     

新企业创业导向、关系利用及绩效关系研究

本研究在深入分析转型经济制度和市场环境的独特性的基础上,提出新企业转型经济背景下实施创业导向存在独有的特征,基于关系利用视角来更好地揭示这种独特性,并探讨新企业创业导向向绩效转化的作用机理。基于吉林长春的149个新企业样本的数据结果显示,新企业实施创业导向积极促进绩效的提升,新企业对商业关系和政治关系的利用积极促进绩效的提升,同时商业关系和政治关系在创业导向与绩效间起着积极的中介作用。该结果完善了转型经济背景下创业导向的相关理论。     

The spill-over theory reversed: The impact of regional economies on the commercialization of university science

The concept of regional technology spill-overs created by university research is one of the most enduring theories within the economic geography and innovation management fields. This article introduces an alternative perspective on academic commercialization, arguing that the quality of a university's regional environment can significantly impact a university's success in commercializing science. Recent research on university technology transfer stresses the importance of personal contacts between academic and industry scientists in driving commercialization. The social structure of the regional economy in which a university is embedded will strongly influence the density of contacts linking university scientists with individuals in industry, and through doing so, impact the density of networks through which university knowledge can be commercialized. Social network analysis is used to examine the quality of social ties linking industry and university scientists within the San Francisco and Los Angeles California biotechnology industries over the 1980–2005 period. Results support the theory that the existence of strong social networks linking inventors heightens university commercialization output. Despite similar university research endowments, universities in San Francisco have dramatically commercialization outputs than San Francisco, which is correlated with the existence of cohesive inventor networks linking industry and university scientists in this region, but not Los Angeles. Moreover, longitudinal analysis shows that the commercialization output of San Francisco universities increased substantially starting in the early 1990s, the time period in which cohesive inventor networks emerged in the region.