Principals' perceptions of the use of total quality management concepts for school improvement in Mauritius : leading or misleading?

As a small island country, Mauritius is relying on its human capital and innovative hi-tech industry to ensure future economic viability in the global market. As such, Mauritian education authorities are seeking ways to raise educational standards. One idea being canvassed is that Total Quality Management (TQM) could provide the framework for Mauritian school leaders to deliver imperatives for change and improvement and to achieve the aim of ‘world- class quality education.’ This paper reports the findings of a research into Mauritian principals’ current practices in line with TQM tenets and their perceptions about the usefulness or otherwise of ideas implicit in TQM. The findings indicate that whilst principals agree with current progressive notions and thinking compatible with the TQM philosophy, they have not fully translated them into their practice. The paper identifies challenges and opportunities worthy of discussion for school improvement in twenty-first century Mauritius with its high-tech, world-class ambitions.

Developing a culturally-specific peace curriculum for Vietnamese primary schools : a case study of participatory action research in cross-cultural design

In 2003 the International Conflict Resolution Centre at the University of Melbourne, Australia, produced a primary school teaching manual for UNESCO Vietnam in consultation with ASP schoolteachers and principals. The finished manual included lessons plans and materials for a five year, 50 lesson peace education course. The Manual is one of the first examples of a systematic core national curriculum in peace education worldwide.

Development of the Teaching Manual posed a number of challenges including differences in language, culture, government and education system. To meet these challenges, a Participatory Action Research approach was central in the project’s development and curriculum design. This case study is offered as a model for effective cross-cultural curriculum development of peace education materials. In particular, the creation of a systematic core course in peace education and the use of UNESCO’s peace keys are outlined as innovative aspects of the project.

Mathematics curriculum reform : reproducing social inequalities

This book is essential reading for Australasian mathematics educators and other researchers with an interest in the history of mathematics curriculum, the culture of mathematics, gender, and social justice issues in mathematics. Drawing on the results of research conducted by the Educational Outcomes Research Unit at the University of Melbourne and historical documents, Richard Teese argues that the education system fails to diffuse the economic and cultural benefits assumed to flow from the completion of secondary schooling.

Striving for educational equity and ‘world-class quality’ schools in Mauritius in global times

Concerns that the education system in Mauritius has not been adequately preparing students for work and life, and unsatisfactory academic achievement in schools, have fuelled the government’s drive to improve the quality of schools. These concerns exist within education structures that systematically segregate students into ‘star’ schools and less desirable schools that curtail the education experience of the majority of Mauritian children. Within this context, Mauritian education authorities have attempted various educational reforms aiming at ‘World Class Quality Education’ so as to contribute to an efficient and dynamic workforce and to meet the needs of an increasingly competitive, knowledge-based and globalised economy. Reflecting the Mauritian government’s ‘quality’ agenda and its focus on the work of school leaders, this article reports the findings of research exploring Mauritian principals’ views about the usefulness or otherwise of Total Quality Management (TQM) principles in raising educational standards. It focuses specifically on whether and how principals are addressing the mounting challenges brought about by globalisation. The findings indicate that, despite the government’s efforts at reforms, the education system detracts from ambitions to adequately prepare all Mauritian children for work and life in a globalised and networked world. The article argues that school leaders need to take proactive responsibility for ensuring that all Mauritian children have access to an education system that cultivates their participation as active citizens of the global community.

Conceptualizing teamwork and group-work in architecture and related design disciplines

This paper reports on the early findings of an Australian Learning Teaching Council (ALTC/OLT) funded project – “Enhancing and Assessing Group and Team Learning in Architecture and Related Design Contexts.” This is a two-year project investigating good practice in Australian higher education for the teaching of teamwork in the design disciplines, with a focus on architecture. Drawing upon a review of the literature and discussions with teachers and practitioners, the paper considers how teamwork is conceived in the context of the design disciplines. The paper explores notions of team and group design activities in the literature, identifying the key elements and characteristics of effective teams and groups. While a great deal of research exists on effective teamwork in organizational, management and general education literature, this research found a clear gap in knowledge relating to teaching teamwork in architecture and related design contexts. Suggestions are made about the ways in which theories on effective teamwork in organisations might elucidate teaching and assessment of effectively functioning student design teams. The literature review prompted five key questions, outlined here, around the conceptualisation of teamwork in design education that were subsequently discussed with educators and practitioners, thus allowing the identification of issues, problems and solutions common to all fields of design.

Young adults' management of type 1 diabetes during life transitions

Aim. To identify life transitions likely to impact diabetes self-care among young adults with Type 1 diabetes and their coping strategies during transition events.

Background. Relationships among psychosocial stress, adjustment, coping and metabolic control affect clinical outcomes and mental health. Life transitions represent major change and are associated with stress that temporarily affects individuals’ problem-solving, coping abilities and blood glucose levels.

Design. A qualitative interpretive inquiry.

Method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 young adults with Type 1 diabetes and a constant comparative analysis method. Data and analysis was managed using QSR_ NVIVO 7 software.

Results. Participants identified two significant transition groups: life development associated with adolescence, going through the education system, entering new relationships, motherhood and the workforce and relocating. Diabetes-related transitions included being diagnosed, developing diabetes complications, commencing insulin pump treatment and going on diabetes camps. Participants managed transitions using ‘strategic thinking and planning’ with strategies of ‘self-negotiation to minimise risks’; ‘managing diabetes using previous experiences’; ‘connecting with others with diabetes’; ‘actively seeing information to ‘patch’ knowledge gaps’; and ‘putting diabetes into perspective’.

Conclusions. Several strategies are used to manage diabetes during transitions. Thinking and planning strategically was integral to glycaemic control and managing transitions. The impact of transitions on diabetes needs to be explored in larger and longitudinal studies to identify concrete strategies that assist diabetes care during life transitions.

Relevance to clinical practice. It is important for health professionals to understand the emotional, social and cognitive factors operating during transitions to assist young adults with Type 1 diabetes to achieve good health outcomes by prioritising goals and plan flexible, timely, individualised and collaborative treatment.

On eschatology and the 'return to religion'

We begin with Tony Blair's July 2009 Australian visit. Mr Blair converted publicly to Catholicism in 2008. In Australia that year, he argued that the West was facing an internal crisis of confidence, as well as external threats. Blair warned in particular against what he called 'aggressive secularism' and the Western tendency to 'see people of religious faith as people to be pushed to one side'. The Australian's 'editor at large', Paul Kelly, responded enthusiastically. Blair's position represented 'the best argument against the rise of secular intolerance and its distorting of history in the education system by seeking to downgrade or eliminate religion in the West's story'. This stood in contrast to the Australian Labour Party's disastrous' distancing from the Christian tradition. Kelly styled Blair as opposing 'the fashionable Western idea that religion can be suppressed or confined to the private realm' as 'a delusion and dangerous'. The Australian's position is not surprising, given the news paper's long- standing, US-influenced neoconservative position.

Widening access to lifelong learning for adults in Ethiopia: opportunities with recognition of prior learning

Socio-economic implication of the lifelong learning for all agenda is enormous. The very idea of lifelong learning frees learning from time and space constraints. It advocates learning to be an activity of a lifetime both within and without the formal education system. The assumption is that lifelong and life-wide learning will promote competitiveness, creativity, employability and social cohesion. Taking it in the context of developing countries such as Ethiopia, lifelong learning as an educational organising principle may play a vital role in supporting efforts to eradicate illiteracy and reduce poverty. Recently, Ethiopia has introduced the third phase of their education sector development programme, which underscores the importance of adult education, and a national strategy for adult education. This paper analyses the two documents to understand the extent to which non-formal and formal education are linked, and thereby to highlight the significance of institutionalising the recognition of prior learning (RPL) to promote lifelong learning for adults and working population.

PISA – Shocks, after shocks and misconceptions

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is as a triennial event of ranking compulsory education performance of students in participating countries. The results are published as a leagues table, which attracts much attention from politicians, media, employer groups, academics and other interest groups. Many of the responses and much of interpretation of PISA results are arguably misguided, for they mistake quality of education within performance of education systems. In this paper we are attempting to demystify PISA results by focusing on issues OECD-PISA education concept, test results and its limitations from a quality of education perspective.

Asian immigrant parents’ and New Zealand early childhood teachers’ views of parent-teacher relationships

The growing number of Asian children entering the New Zealand early childhood education system means that teachers cannot ignore the need to develop an understanding of Asian cultures and practices that support working collaboratively with Asian families. This paper examines the views of a small number of Asian immigrant parents and New Zealand early childhood teachers about parent-teacher partnerships in children’s early education and care. The findings point to challenges for both parents and teachers. The paper highlights some major problems or barriers to the achievement of effective partnerships between Asian immigrant parents and New Zealand early childhood teachers, namely parental and teacher confidence, time, and willingness or perception of need to develop a partnership. Some recommendations for improving teacher practices are outlined. It is concluded that given the limitations of this study and yet the issues it has raised, that this is topic which needs to be more systematically researched.

Healthcare costs associated with language difficulties up to 9 years of age: Australian population-based study

PURPOSE: This study aimed to quantify the non-hospital healthcare costs associated with language difficulties within two nationally representative samples of children. METHOD: Data were from three biennial waves (2004-2008) of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (B cohort: 0-5 years; K cohort: 4-9 years). Language difficulties were defined as scores ≤ 1.25 SD below the mean on measures of parent-reported communication (0-3 years) and directly assessed vocabulary (4-9 years). Participant data were linked to administrative data on non-hospital healthcare attendances and prescription medications from the universal Australian Medicare subsidized healthcare scheme. RESULT: It was found that healthcare costs over each 2-year age band were higher for children with than without language difficulties at 0-1, 2-3, and 4-5 years, notably 36% higher (mean difference = $AU206, 95% CI = $90, $321) at 4-5 years (B cohort). The slightly higher 2-year healthcare costs for children with language difficulties at 6-7 and 8-9 years were not statistically different from those without language difficulties. Modelled to the corresponding Australian child population, 2-year government costs ranged from $AU1.2-$AU12.1 million (depending on age examined). Six-year healthcare costs increased with the persistence of language difficulties in the K cohort, with total Medicare costs increasing by $192 (95% CI = $74, $311; p = .002) for each additional wave of language difficulties. CONCLUSION: Language difficulties (whether transient or persistent) were associated with substantial excess population healthcare costs in childhood, which are in addition to the known broader costs incurred through the education system. It is unclear whether healthcare costs were specifically due to the assessment and/or treatment of language difficulties, as opposed to conditions that may be co-morbid with or may cause language difficulties.

ANT on the PISA trail: following the statistical pursuit of certainty

The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is increasingly depended upon by education policy makers to provide reliable measures of their country’s education system against international benchmarks. PISA attempts to provide efficient, scientific and technical means to develop educational policies which achieve optimal outcomes (Berg &Timmermans, 2000, p. 31). This kind of scientific evidence is seen by policy makers as being free of prejudice and ideology. Science is expected to represent the truth, state universal facts and make predictions.Thus PISA seeks to rank countries’ performances, work out future scenarios and offer policy direction. By what means does PISA gain knowledge and speak with confidence about diverse cultures and distant nations? How does it acquire a ‘voice from nowhere’ (Haraway, 1988; Suchman, 2000), and become a modern-day Oracle that countries might consult for policy advice? Modelled on early actor-network accounts of laboratory life, this ethnography traces how PISA knowledge comes to be made, guided by interview data with two ‘insiders’ in the ‘PISA laboratory’. It traces the translations and the circulating reference that turn PISA into a ‘centre of calculation’. It highlights how human and non-human entities are imbricated in the assembling of scientific facts and argues for a suspension of the divide between ‘science’ and ‘politics’. In the process, the paper offers an empirical instantiation of how some concepts from actor-network theory may be applied in the field of education policy, and ponders the implications of such an understanding for evidence based policy making.

Load frequency control of power systems with electric vehicles and diverse transmission links using distributed functional observers

This paper presents a load frequency control scheme using electric vehicles (EVs) to help thermal turbine units to provide the stability fluctuated by load demands. First, a general framework for deriving a state-space model for general power system topologies is given. Then, a detailed model of a four-area power system incorporating a smart and renewable discharged EVs system is presented. The areas within the system are interconnected via a combination of alternating current/high voltage direct current links and thyristor controlled phase shifters. Based on some recent development on functional observers, novel distributed functional observers are designed, one at each local area, to implement any given global state feedback controller. The designed observers are of reduced order and dynamically decoupled from others in contrast to conventional centralized observer (CO)-based controllers. The proposed scheme can cope better against accidental failures than those CO-based controllers. Extensive simulations and comparisons are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.