Worldview awareness and adult education /

This research derived data from two sets of interviews with 18 participants who were involved in adult education in either a community college or a university. The purpose was to explore their worldview awareness. Through the interviews, the participants shared their understanding of worldview as a term and concept and as something that might be seen to apply in their practice of teaching. The responses indicated that there are three kinds of awareness (noetic, experiential, and integrative) which appeared to develop upon a landscape of constraints and opportunities. Constraints were seen to fall into the 5 broad categories of institutional, circumstantial, self-imposed, other-imposed, and discipline-related constraints. Opportunities for developing awareness were linked to individual experiences and could occur to different extents in many directions, on different occasions, and in different phases of life. Through this research, and in spite of the prevalence of worldview in the human experience, it was foimd that the term and concept have remained on the margins of educational discourse. Consequently, theory, research, and practice have been deprived of a useful and usable concept.

Landscape geochemical investigations in the vicinity of a lead deposit near Snertingdal, southern Norway

Landscape geochemical investigations were conducted upon portions of a natural uniform landscape in southern Norway. This consisted of sampling both soil profile samples and spruce tree twigs for the analysis of twelve chemical elements. These elements were cobalt, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, manganese, magnesium, iron, calcium, sodium, potassium and aluminum which were determined by atomic absorption analysis on standardized extraction techniques for both organic and inorganic materials. Two "landscape traverses" were chosen for a comparative study of the effects of varying landscape parameters upon the trace element distribution patterns throughout the landscape traverses. The object of this study was to test this method of investigation and the concept of an ideal uniform landscape under Norwegian conditions. A "control traverse" was established to represent uniform landscape conditions typical of the study area and was used to determine "normal" or average trace element distribution patterns. A "signal traverse" was selected nearby over an area of lead mineralization where the depth to bedrock is very small. The signal traverse provided an area of similar landscape conditions to those of the control traverse with significant differences in the bedrock configuration and composition. This study was also to determine the effect of the bedrock mineralization upon the distribution patterns of the twelve chemical elements within the major components of the two landscape traverses (i.e. soil profiles and tree branches). The lead distribution within the soils of the signal traverse showed localized accumulations of lead within the overburden with maximum values occurring within the organic A horizon of soil profile #10. Above average concentrations of lead were common within the signal traverse, however, the other elements studied were not significantly different from those averages determined throughout the soils of the control traverse. The spruce twig samples did not have corresponding accumulations of lead near the soil lead anomaly. This is attributable to the very localized nature of the lead dispersion pattern within the soils. This approach to the study of the geochemistry of a natural landscape was effective in establishing: a) average or "normal" trace element distribution patterns b) local variations in the landscape morphology and c) the effect of unusually high lead concentrations upon the geochemistry of the landscape (i.e. within the soil profiles and tree branches). This type of study provides the basis for further more intensive studies and serves only as a first approximation of the behaviour of elements within a natural landscape.

Hydro Electric Commission of Niagara Falls Ontario Scrapbook, 1936-1939, 1943-1951

Sir Adam Beck ( a London, Ontario manufacturer, Mayor and Conservative member of the provincial legislature) was a champion of municipal and provincial power ownership. Beck become the “Power Minister” and chairman of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario which was the world’s first publicly owned utility. In 1925 the first unit of the Hydro Electric Power Commission’s Queenston Chippawa hydro-electric development on the Niagara River went into service. The station was renamed in 1950 as “Sir Adam Beck #1”. This marked the 25th anniversary of Beck’s death. This is one of 2 generating stations in Niagara Falls. There is also Adam Beck Plant #2. The Niagara generating stations supply one quarter of all power used in New York State and Ontario.Ontario Hydro has two water tunnels which traverse the entire City of Niagara Falls from the Village of Chippawa in the South to the Sir Adam Beck Hydro Electric Generating Stations in the North. Also they are in the process of building the third tunnel. In addition, Ontario Hydro has a 13.6 km open canal which traverses the entire City of Niagara Falls. Source: http://www.hydroone.com/OurCompany/Pages/OurHistory.aspx

Foster Children in Education: Resource Handbook for Elementary Educators

This project is aligned with examining the role of the education system and the foster care context on the learning experiences of young children in the classroom. This project is a study of the literature and research conducted on the life experiences, adverse effects of these experiences (such as attachment disorder), socioemotional development, and resiliency of foster care children. Furthermore, the project explores the literature on how the experiences of these foster children traverse contexts and impact the education setting. This study also outlines specific strategies and practices for teachers and school staff in order to promote students’ resiliency, competency, behaviour management, and overall educational success and positive academic experience. These strategies resulted from a critical review of the literature and translated into the development of an informative handbook intended for teachers. The handbook developed in this study focuses on the understanding of the lives of foster care children, their histories, adverse experiences, socioemotional development, strategies to manage behaviour, unique needs, and encouraging their resiliency and success in school. To ensure the soundness of the handbook, 2 education liaisons at a Family and Child Services agency within Ontario and a former child and service social worker from Manitoba reviewed the first draft and provided comments on the validity of the content and the potential usability of the handbook for educators. Suggestions and comments provided by these experts were used to enhance the final product of the handbook.