Assessing the Influence of Brain-based Instructional Methods and Its Impact on Systemic Change for Learning Communities

Background: As scholars who prepare future school leaders to be innovative instructional leaders for their learning communities, we are on the verge of a curriculum design revolution. The application of brain research findings promotes educational reform efforts to systemically change the way in which children experience school. However, most educators, school leaders, board members, and policy makers are ill prepared to reconsider the implications for assessment, pedagogy, school climate, daily schedules, and use of technology. This qualitative study asked future school leaders to reconsider how school leadership preparedness programs prepared them to become instructional leaders for the 21st century. The findings from this study will enhance the field of school leadership, challenging the current emphasis placed on standardized testing, traditional school calendars, assessments, monocultural instructional methods, and meeting the needs of diverse learning communities. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Observed adaptation to climate change: UK evidence of transition to a well-adapting society

This paper investigates whether and to what extent a wide range of actors in the UK are adapting to climate change, and whether this is evidence of a social transition. We document evidence of over 300 examples of early adopters of adaptation practice to climate change in the UK. These examples span a range of activities from small adjustments (or coping) to building adaptive capacity, implementing actions and creating deeper systemic change in public and private organisations in a range of sectors. We find that adaptation in the UK has been dominated by government initiatives and has principally occurred in the form of research into climate change impacts. These actions within government stimulate a further set of actions at other scales in public agencies, regulatory agencies and regional government (or in the devolved administrations), though with little real evidence of climate change adaptation initiatives trickling down to local government level. The water supply and flood defence sectors, requiring significant investment in large scale infrastructure such as reservoirs and coastal defences, have invested more heavily in identifying potential impacts and adaptations. Economic sectors that are not dependent on large scale infrastructure appear to be investing far less effort and resources in preparing for climate change. We conclude that while the government-driven top-down targeted adaptation approach has generated anticipatory action at low cost, it may also have created enough niche activities to allow for diffusion of new adaptation practices in response to real or perceived climate change. These results have significant implications for how climate policy can be developed to support autonomous adaptors in the UK and other countries.

Observed adaptation to climate change as initiated transition

This paper investigates whether and to what extent a wide range of actors in the UK are adapting to climate change, and whether this is evidence of a social transition. We document evidence of over 300 examples of early adopters of adaptation practice to climate change in the UK. These examples span a range of activities from small adjustments (or coping), to building adaptive capacity, to implementing actions and to creating deeper systemic change in public and private organisations in a range of sectors. We find that adaptation in the UK has been dominated by government initiatives and has principally occurred in the form of research into climate change impacts. These government initiatives have stimulated a further set of actions at other scales in public agencies, regulatory agencies and regional government (and the devolved administrations), though with little real evidence of climate change adaptation initiatives trickling down to local government level. The sectors requiring significant investment in large scale infrastructure have invested more heavily than those that do not in identifying potential impacts and adaptations. Thus we find a higher level of adaptation activity by the water supply and flood defence sectors. Sectors that are not dependent on large scale infrastructure appear to be investing far less effort and resources in preparing for climate change. We conclude that the UK government-driven top-down targeted adaptation approach has generated anticipatory action at low cost in some areas. We also conclude that these actions may have created enough niche activities to allow for diffusion of new adaptation practices in response to real or perceived climate change. These results have significant implications for how climate policy can be developed to support autonomous adaptors in the UK and other countries.

An analysis of the role of soft systems methodology in the change process and the contribution of the facilitator within this process

This research aims to examine the effectiveness of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) to enable systemic change within local goverment and local NHS environments and to examine the role of the facilitator within this process. Checkland's Mode 2 variant of Soft Systems Methodology was applied on an experimental basis in two environments, Herefordshire Health Authority and Sand well Health Authority. The Herefordshire application used SSM in the design of an Integrated Care Pathway for stroke patients. In Sandwell, SSM was deployed to assist in the design of an Infonnation Management and Technology (IM&T) Strategy for the boundary-spanning Sandwell Partnership. Both of these environments were experiencing significant organisational change as the experiments unfurled. The explicit objectives of the research were: To examine the evolution and development of SSM and to contribute to its further development. To apply the Soft Systems Methodology to change processes within the NHS. To evaluate the potential role of SSM in this wider process of change. To assess the role of the researcher as a facilitator within this process. To develop a critical framework through which the impact of SSM on change might be understood and assessed. In developing these objectives, it became apparent that there was a gap in knowledge relating to SSM. This gap concerns the evaluation of the role of the approach in the change process. The case studies highlighted issues in stakeholder selection and management; the communicative assumptions in SSM; the ambiguous role of the facilitator; and the impact of highly politicised problem environments on the effectiveness of the methodology in the process of change. An augmented variant on SSM that integrates an appropriate (social constructivist) evaluation method is outlined, together with a series of hypotheses about the operationalisation of this proposed method.

L’influence de la gouvernance sur la capacité de changement du système de soins : l’exemple de l’implantation des groupes de médecine de famille

Cette thèse s’intéresse à la gouvernance de changements en contextes pluralistes. Nous souhaitons mieux comprendre l’exercice de gouvernance déployé pour développer et implanter un changement par le biais d’une politique publique visant la transformation d’organisations pluralistes. Pour ce faire, nous étudions l’émergence et l’implantation de la politique encadrant la création de groupes de médecine de famille (GMF) à l’aide d’études de cas correspondant à cinq GMF. Les cas sont informés par plus de cents entrevues réalisées en deux vagues ainsi que par une analyse documentaire et des questionnaires portant sur l’organisation du GMF. Trois articles constituent le cœur de la thèse. Dans le premier article, nous proposons une analyse de l’émergence et de l’implantation de la politique GMF à l’aide d’une perspective processuelle et contextuelle développée à partir du champ du changement organisationnel, tel qu’étudié en théorie des organisations. Les résultats démontrent que la gestion du changement en contexte pluraliste est liée à de multiples processus prescrits et construits. Nous avons qualifié ce phénomène de régulation de l’action social (regulation of collective action). La conceptualisation développée et les résultats de l’analyse permettent de mieux comprendre les interactions entre les processus, le contexte et la nature du changement. Le deuxième article propose une conceptualisation de la gouvernance permettant l’étude de la gouvernance en contextes pluralistes. La conceptualisation de la gouvernance proposée tire profit de plusieurs courants des sciences politiques et de l’administration publique. Elle considère la gouvernance comme un ensemble de processus auxquels participent plusieurs acteurs détenant des capacités variables de gouvernance. Ces processus émergent des actions des acteurs et des instruments qu’ils mobilisent. Ils permettent la réalisation des fonctions de la gouvernance (la prospective, la prise de décisions ainsi que la régulation) assurant la coordination de l’action collective. Le troisième article propose, comme le premier, une analyse de l’émergence et de l’implantation de la politique mais cette fois à l’aide de la conceptualisation de la gouvernance développée dans l’article précédent. Nos résultats permettent des apprentissages particuliers concernant les différentes fonctions de la gouvernance et les processus permettant leur réalisation. Ils révèlent l’influence du pluralisme sur les différentes fonctions de gouvernance. Dans un tel contexte, la fonction de régulation s’exerce de façon indirecte et est étroitement liée aux fonctions de prospective et de prise de décisions. Ces fonctions rendent possibles les apprentissages et le développement de consensus nécessaires à l’action collective. L’analyse des actions et des instruments a permis de mieux comprendre les multiples formes qu’ils prennent, en lien avec les contextes dans lesquels ils sont mobilisés. Les instruments indirects permettent les interactions (p. ex. commission d’étude, comité ou réunion) et la formalisation d’ententes entre acteurs (p. ex. des contrats ou des protocoles de soins). Ils se sont révélés fondamentaux pour coordonner les différents acteurs participant à la gouvernance, et ce tant aux niveaux organisationnel qu’inter organisationnel. Les résultats démontrent que les deux conceptualisations contribuent à l’étude de la gouvernance du changement. Nous avons développé deux perspectives inspirées par les sciences politiques, l’administration publique et la théorie des organisations et les analyses qu’elles ont permises ont révélé leur complémentarité. Les résultats permettent de mieux comprendre les processus impliqués dans un tel changement ainsi que leur lien avec les efforts déployés aux différents niveaux par les acteurs mobilisant leurs capacités de gouvernance pour influencer et construire la politique GMF.

Social Movement Casework and the Law and Organizing Ideal : Toward a modified law and organizing model

En Amérique du Nord, les militants et les juristes ont longtemps cru que les avocats progressistes pourraient offrir des avantages tactiques importants aux mouvements sociaux. Cette perspective optimiste a cédé la place pendant les années 1970 à une attitude critique à l'égard des avocats et des litiges. Les chercheurs se sont interrogés sur l’efficacité d’assimiler les revendications politiques à des atteintes aux droits individuels, pour être ensuite présentées devant les tribunaux. Le litige était perçu comme source d’une influence négative qui favorise l’isolement et l’individualisme. De plus, les chercheurs ont remarqué qu’il y avait le potentiel pour les avocats militants – bien qu’ils soient bien intentionnés – d’exercer leur profession d’une manière qui pourrait donner un sentiment d’impuissance aux autres participants du mouvement social. Les premières versions de cette critique vont souvent assimiler la « stratégie juridique » avec le litige présenté devant les tribunaux judiciaires et géré par les avocats. Une réponse inspirante à cette critique a développée au début des années 2000, avec l'émergence d’un modèle de pratique que les chercheurs aux États-Unis ont nommé « law and organizing ». Des études normatives sur ce modèle offrent des arguments nuancés en faveur d’une pratique militante interdisciplinaire, partagée entre les avocats et les organisateurs. Ces études continuent à attribuer les risques d’individualisation et d’impuissance aux avocats et aux litiges. Selon ce modèle, au lieu de diriger la stratégie, les avocats travaillent en collaboration avec les travailleurs sociaux, les organisateurs et les citoyens pour planifier la stratégie du mouvement social, tout en favorisant l'autonomisation et la mobilisation de la collectivité. La présente thèse offre un examen critique de ce modèle, à travers l'une de ses tactiques bien connues: le traitement des problèmes juridiques individuels par les organisations militantes. La thèse examine les hypothèses fondatrices du modèle « law and organizing », en réinterprétant les problèmes d’individualisation et d’impuissance comme étant des enjeux reconnus dans de multiples disciplines, partout où les acteurs font de l’intervention sur une base individuelle afin de provoquer un changement systémique. La thèse soutient qu’un modèle de la pratique engagée du droit qui associe l'individualisation et l'impuissance exclusivement à la profession d'avocat risque de répondre de façon inadéquate aux deux problèmes. La recherche propose un modèle modifié qui met l'accent sur les options juridiques accessibles aux militants, tout en reconnaissant que la mobilisation et l'autonomisation sont des priorités qui sont partagées entre plusieurs disciplines, même si elles peuvent être traitées de façon particulière à l’intérieur de la profession juridique.

Der „elektronische Personalausweis“ in Deutschland: Gesetzgebungsverfahren, Einflussfaktoren und Pfade

Zum 1. November 2010 wird in Deutschland der neue Personalausweis starten, der gegenüber dem bisherigen Dokument drei neue Funktionen enthält: Die Speicherung biometrischer Daten, die optionale Signaturfunktion und den elektronischen Identitätsnachweis, also eine technische Funktion zur elektronischen Authentisierung. Die Rechtsgrundlagen wurden mit der Verabschiedung des neuen Gesetzes über Personalausweise und den elektronischen Identitätsnachweis sowie zur Änderung weiterer Vorschriften am 18. Dezember 2008 im Bundestag gelegt. Wie bei anderen Gesetzgebungsverfahren sind diesem formalen Verfahren wissenschaftliche und politische, in diesem Fall auch technische, Diskussionen vorangegangen, die darüber hinaus während des Gesetzgebungsverfahrens fortgesetzt wurden. Die Studie beschreibt in einem ersten Schritt die Eckdaten und wesentlichen Inhalte der Diskussion und des Gesetzgebungsverfahrens. Im Anschluss erfolgt eine Darlegung einzelner Einflussfaktoren und „Pfade“ der rechtlichen, technischen und politischen Entwicklung, die Einfluss auf bestimmte Innovationsentscheidungen hatten. Daran schließt sich eine Betrachtung der einzelnen Akteure an, bevor der Gesamtprozess bewertet wird.

Análisis de la importancia estratégica de Colombia en la política exterior de Brasil entre 2003 y 2009

El objetivo de este trabajo fue identificar en qué forma la política regional de Brasil entre 2003 y 2009 ha enfrentado la importancia estratégica de Colombia. Esta investigación cualitativa de carácter descriptivo, se abordo desde una visión de la Estabilidad Hegemónica y Cambio Sistémico, dándole un carácter multidimensional al poder de los Estados, con el uso de las categorías Soft Power (Nye) y el Hard Power económico y sus implicaciones en la Economía Política Internacional (Gilpin). Se abordó, como el proyecto que desarrolló el gobierno Lula, para transformar a Brasil de media a gran potencia o jugador global, enfrenta uno de sus mayores obstáculos en la región y particularmente en Colombia, dándole a este, una posición estratégica con respecto a la aspiración de envergadura global. Frente a esto, durante el 2003 – 2009 desde la relaciona binacional, se han buscado mecanismo de acercamiento en los ejes comercial, seguridad y diálogo.

Análisis de la Política Exterior rusa enmarcada en el concepto de “Espacio Post-soviético”, a la luz de la teoría de Realismo Clásico de Hans Morgenthau durante los dos periodos de Vladimir Putin, 2000 A 2008

La Política Exterior rusa ha tenido un giro sustancial con la llegada de Vladimir Putin en el año 2000. En consecuencia, esto se ve reflejado en las acciones tomadas por el Kremlin con las revoluciones de Ucrania (Revolución Naranja) y Georgia (Revolución de las Rosas). La apuesta de los dos mandatos de Putin era claramente influenciar su zona geográficamente más cercana, es decir el "Espacio Post-soviético".

The effect of BREEAM on clients and construction professionals

The effects and influence of the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Methods (BREEAM) on construction professionals are examined. Most discussions of building assessment methods focus on either the formal tool or the finished product. In contrast, BREEAM is analysed here as a social technology using Michel Foucault’s theory of governmentality. Interview data are used to explore the effect of BREEAM on visibilities, knowledge, techniques and professional identities. The analysis highlights a number of features of the BREEAM assessment process which generally go unremarked: professional and public understandings of the method, the deployment of different types of knowledge and their implication for the authority and legitimacy of the tool, and the effect of BREEAM on standard practice. The analysis finds that BREEAM’s primary effect is through its impact on standard practices. Other effects include the use of assessment methods to defend design decisions, its role in both operationalizing and obscuring the concept of green buildings, and the effect of tensions between project and method requirements for the authority of the tool. A reflection on assessment methods as neo-liberal tools and their adequacy for the promotion of sustainable construction suggests several limitations of lock-in that hinder variation and wider systemic change.

The Entrepreneurial Theory of the Firm and the Theory of the Entrepreneurial Firm

The entrepreneurial theory of the firm argues that entrepreneurship, properly understood, is a crucial but neglected element in explaining the nature and boundaries of the firm. By contrast, the theory of the entrepreneurial firm presumably seeks not to understand the nature and boundaries of "the firm" in general but rather to understand a particular type of firm: one that is entrepreneurial. This paper is an attempt to reconcile the two. After briefly delving for the concept of entrepreneurship in the work of Schumpeter, Kirzner, and (especially) Knight, the paper makes the case for the entrepreneurial theory of the firm. In such a theory, the firm exists as the solution to a coordination problem in a world of change and uncertainty, including Knightian or structural uncertainty. Taking a historical or developmental perspective, the paper then examines the changing nature of the entrepreneurial coordination problem over the life-cycle. In this formulation, "the entrepreneurial firm" is a nascent firm or proto-firm facing a problem of coordinating systemic change in economic capabilities. Lacking (by definition) adequate guidance from existing systems of rules of conduct embedded in markets or organizations, the entrepreneurial firm typically relies on a form of organization Max Weber called charismatic authority. In the end, although there is no such thing as a non-entrepreneurial firm, firms that must solve coordination problems in a world of novelty and systemic change ("entrepreneurial firms") are perhaps the purest case of the entrepreneurial theory of the firm.

Everything in di Dark Muss Come to Light: A Postcolonial Investigation of the Practice of Extra Lessons at the Secondary Level in Jamaica's Education System

Despite the vast research examining the evolution of Caribbean education systems, little is chronologically tied to the postcolonial theoretical perspectives of specific island-state systems, such as the Jamaican education system and its relationship with the underground shadow education system. This dissertation study sought to address the gaps in the literature by critically positioning postcolonial theories in education to examine the macro- and micro-level impacts of extra lessons on secondary education in Jamaica. The following postcolonial theoretical (PCT) tenets in education were contextualized from a review of the literature: (a) PCT in education uses colonial discourse analysis to critically deconstruct and decolonize imperialistic and colonial representations of knowledge throughout history; (b) PCT in education uses an anti-colonial discursive framework to re-position indigenous knowledge in schools, colleges, and universities to challenge hegemonic knowledge; (c) PCT in education involves the "unlearning" of dominant, normative ideologies, the use of self-reflexivity, and deconstruction; and (d) PCT in education calls for critical pedagogical approaches that reject the banking concept of education and introduces inclusive pedagogy to facilitate "the passage from naïve to critical transitivity" (Freire, 1973, p. 32). Specifically, using a transformative mixed-methods design, grounded and informed by a postcolonial theoretical lens, I quantitatively uncovered and then qualitatively highlighted how if at all extra lessons can improve educational outcomes for students at the secondary level in Jamaica. Accordingly, the quantitative data was used to test the hypotheses that the practice of extra lessons in schools is related to student academic achievement and the practice of critical-inclusive pedagogy in extra lessons is related to academic achievement. The two-level hierarchical linear model analysis revealed that hours spent in extra lessons, average household monthly income, and critical-inclusive pedagogical tents were the best predictors for academic achievement. Alternatively, the holistic multi-case study explored how extra-lessons produces increased academic achievement. The data revealed new ways of knowledge construction and critical pedagogical approaches to galvanize systemic change in secondary education. Furthermore, the data showed that extra lessons can improve educational outcomes for students at the secondary level if the conditions for learning are met. This study sets the stage for new forms of knowledge construction and implications for policy change.

On the periphery of global jihad. The North Caucasus: the illusion of stabilisation. OSW Point of View Number 45, November 2014

The situation in the North Caucasus has stabilised, in comparison with previous years, mainly as regards the activity of the Islamic military underground. This is an effect of ideological changes among the militants which have led to a dilution of the Caucasian armed struggle and its marginalisation in global jihad, since top priority has been granted to the Middle Eastern front. The factors which have contributed to this stabilisation are the organisational crisis in the Caucasus Emirate and the outflux of militants to the Middle East, as well the successful ‘carrot and stick’ policy adopted by Moscow. However, the partial stabilisation in the Caucasus is inherently precarious, being a contingent outcome of the situation rather than the result of systemic change. The region’s pressing problems remain unresolved; and these problems are generating chronic instability and cauing the Caucasus to drift away from Russia in civilisational terms. An economic or political crisis in the Russian Federation may result in the conflicts in the Caucasus unfreezing, including a reactivation of the idea of Chechen independence as well as the idea of the Caucasus Emirate, which is a part of global jihad.

Négy jellegzetesség. A magyar fejlődés politikai gazdaságtani megközelítésben. 1. rész = Four characteristic features. Development in Hungary from the aspect of political economy. First Part

A két részből álló cikk a magyarországi reformfolyamat és posztszocialista átalakulás négy olyan jellegzetességét emeli ki, amelyek megszakítás nélkül, a politikai szférában bekövetkezett rendszerváltást követően is, folyamatosan jellemezték az elmúlt harminc év fejlődését: a lakosság anyagi jólétének prioritása, erős paternalista jóléti állam, a reformfolyamat és átmenet fokozatossága és a politikai nyugalom. Az 1995. március 12­én bejelentett stabilizációs program - amennyiben megvalósul - jelenthet elmozdulást ezektől a jellegzetességektől. A cikk politikai gazdaságtani megközelítésben vizsgálja, hogy miért alakult ki ez a négy jellegzetesség, miképpen hatottak azok egymásra, milyen kedvező és kedvezőtlen hatásokat fejtettek ki. Az első rész az 1956­os forradalom hatásából kiindulva politikatörténeti áttekintést ad, majd a mai jólét, biztonság és nyugalom prioritását és a társadalmi adósság felhalmozódását, végül a stabilizációs program gazdasági és politikai hatásait elemzi. / === / The article, consisting of two parts, emphasizes four characteristic features of the Hungarian reform process and the post­socialist transformation, which, uninterruptedly, characterized the development over the last thirty years, even after the systemic change in the political sphere. These were: priority of the material welfare of the population, a strong, paternalistic welfare state, the gradual progress of the reform process and the transition, as well as political calmness. The stabilization programme, announced on March 12,1995, may imply - if it materializes - a shift away from these characteristics. The article investigates, from the aspect of political economy, why the four characteristic features had developed, how they affected each other and what were their advantageous and disadvantageous impacts. Setting out from the impacts of the 1956 revolution, the first part gives an overview of political history and then analyses the priority of today's welfare, security and calm as well as the accumulation of societal debt and, finally, the economic and political impacts of the stabilization programme.

Feminine Concepts of Leadership and Power: A New Framework for Development Ethics and Education Development

The last twenty years have been a period of growth in education development, development ethics, and female leadership studies. Literature indicates meaningful connections between these disciplines and points towards reassessment of obstacles to systemic change. A new term enpowerment is coined to define a proposed framework for ethical development practice.