Factors Contributing to Teachers’ Sustained Use of Kindergarten Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies

Abstract

Factors were explored that predicted whether teachers sustained the use of a validated reading intervention. Seventy-three teachers from 37 schools in 3 states were asked in interviews whether they continued to use Kindergarten Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (KPALS) 1 year after their involvement in the program. A logistic regression model was created with teachers’ yes/no responses as the dependent variable and with predictors identified as important to sustainability. Findings were consonant with current theoretical models of sustainability. The logistic regression model captured many key elements of teachers’ decisions to sustain. Strongest predictors were teacher perceptions of the effectiveness of KPALS and degree of external technical support given them.     

Modeling the blockchain enabled traceability in agriculture supply chain

Blockchain Technology (BT) has led to a disruption in the supply chain by removing the trust related issues. Studies are being conducted worldwide to leverage the benefits provided by BT in improving the performance of the supply chains. The literature reveals BT to offer various benefits leading to improvements in the sustainable performance of the agriculture supply chains (ASC). It is expected that BT will bring a paradigm shift in the way the transactions are carried in the ASC by reducing the high number of intermediaries, delayed payments and high transaction lead times. India, a developing economy, caters to the food security needs of an ever-growing population and faces many challenges affecting ASC sustainability. It is therefore essential to adopt BT in the ASC to leverage the various benefits. In this study, we identify and establish the relationships between the enablers of BT adoption in ASC. Thirteen enablers were identified from the literature and validated by the experts before applying a combined Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) methodology to envision the complex causal relationships between the identified BT enablers. The findings from the study suggest that, among the identified enablers, traceability was the most significant reason for BT implementation in ASC followed by auditability, immutability, and provenance. The findings of the study will help the practitioners to design the strategies for BT implementation in agriculture, creating a real-time data-driven ASC. The results will also help the policymakers in developing policies for faster implementation of BT ensuring food safety and sustainable ASCs.     

Western and Chinese development discourses: Education,growth and sustainability

This article examines Western and Chinese discourses of education, sustainable growth and development. Education is increasingly considered as a means to fuel economic growth, especially since the 1980s, when conservative economic values became predominant in Western development thought. Despite a discourse on sustainability favouring ecologically sound and equitable growth, education is increasingly economy-centred. Through analysis of China’s market-based socialism, its development path, and the expansion of its Africa cooperation, this article seeks to demonstrate that the China-proposed development and education models are very similar to the Western growth-based development paradigm, although the discourse is different.     

高速公路项目目标持续性评价方法研究

高速公路项目目标持续性评价是高速公路项目后评价的组成部分。在文献综述的基础上,分析了高速公路项目目标持续性评价的四种方法,并应用层次分析法构建高速公路项目目标持续性评价指标体系,得出高速公路可持续性评价指标的权重。     

Education,skills, sustainability and growth: Complex relations

The global education agenda, embedded in the Education for All (EFA) Goals, and the Millennium Development Goals, has emphasised the importance of reaching EFA rather than sustaining this achievement. As a corollary, the emphasis for external aid has also been on increasing aid to secure EFA rather than on the dangers of aid dependency in securing and sustaining EFA. The international architecture in support of education for sustainable development appears to have little interest in analysing these tensions between the pursuit of these rights-based EFA Goals, on the one hand, and the kind of economic growth and macro-economic environment that would be necessary to sustain their achievement.     

漳州竞技体育平衡发展的可持续性分析

漳州竞技体育六十几年来的发展,取得了不错的成就,但其中存在着某些项目落后和不平衡发展的情况,本文从研究漳州竞技体育发展情况出发,分析了本市竞技体育不平衡发展的成因,对此作出了论述,并提出了解决问题的建议。     

Deep transitions: Emergence,acceleration, stabilization and directionality

Industrial society has not only led to high levels of wealth and welfare in the Western world, but also to increasing global ecological degradation and social inequality. The socio-technical systems that underlay contemporary societies have substantially contributed to these outcomes. This paper proposes that these socio-technical systems are an expression of a limited number of meta-rules that, for the past 250 years, have driven innovation and hence system evolution in a particular direction, thereby constituting the First Deep Transition. Meeting the cumulative social and ecological consequences of the overall direction of the First Deep Transition would require a radical change, not only in socio-technical systems but also in the meta-rules driving their evolution – the Second Deep Transition. This paper develops a new theoretical framework that aims to explain the emergence, acceleration, stabilization and directionality of Deep Transitions. It does so through the synthesis of two literatures that have attempted to explain large-scale and long-term socio-technical change: the Multi-level Perspective (MLP) on socio-technical transitions, and Techno-economic Paradigm (TEP) framework.     

Mobilizing innovation for sustainability transitions: A comment on transformative innovation policy

The topics addressed in this paper concern the (much-needed) transition to sustainability and what role (innovation) policy can play in speeding up such changes. In their Discussion Paper Schot and Steinmueller (2018) argue that the existing theorizing and knowledge bases within the field of innovation studies are “unfit” for this task and that a totally new approach is required. This paper takes issue with this claim. Policy advice, it is argued, needs to be anchored in the accumulated research on the issue at hand, in this case, innovation. The paper therefore starts by distilling some important insights on innovation from the accumulated research on this topic and, with this in mind, considers various policy approaches that have been suggested for influencing innovation and sustainability transitions. Finally, the lessons for the development and implementation of transformative innovation policy are considered. It is concluded that the existing theorizing and knowledge base in innovation studies may be of great relevance when designing policies for dealing with climate change and sustainability transitions.     

Teaching about sustainability through inquiry-based science in Irish primary classrooms: the impact of a professional development programme on teacher self-efficacy,competence and pedagogy

Abstract

Research suggests that innovative and engaging professional development is instrumental in supporting teachers in developing their competence and confidence in teaching sustainability. An international initiative was developed to explore whether a competencies-oriented Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) professional development model was transferable across three different international contexts (Ireland, Germany and Mexico). This paper reports on the adaptation of this model within the Irish context, through the development of an innovative professional development programme for primary teachers. Through a mixed-methods approach which gathered data via pre- and post-programme surveys, teachers’ reflective journals and post-programme group interviews, the paper explores Irish primary school teachers’ experiences of, and attitudes towards, teaching sustainability through science education after participation in a professional development programme. The findings suggest that this programme, structured around the existing evidence for effective professional development in science education and ESD, positively influences teachers’ self-efficacy, supports teachers’ critical engagement with sustainability competencies and promotes the development of transformative pedagogies for sustainability through Inquiry-Based Science Education.     

可持续发展大学：从理念到实践

在厘清可持续发展大学有关概念、考察国内外建设可持续发展大学现状的基础上,提出推进可持续发展大学建设的探索路径:制定特色目标;签署国际宣言;争取外界支持和伙伴关系;校园共同体成员广泛参与;持续改进的环境管理系统;可行的实施策略、行动方案、量化评估系统。