Content -area teachers' perceptions of the effect of the meta -training on their instructional practices

The purpose of this study was to explore the content-area teachers' perceptions of the effect that compliance with the teacher training for content-area teachers of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students mandated by the Consent Decree had on their instructional practices within the content-area classroom. In order to provide an overview of the factors which had an effect on the content-area teachers' mandated training, various areas were reviewed: history of legislative actions that led up to the Consent Decree; stipulations set forth in the Consent Decree; Miami-Dade County Public Schools District LEP Plan including stipulations for teacher training; research on teacher training for teachers of language minority students; and the process of change. This descriptive study specifically addresses teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of the mandated teacher training as it relates to language minority students. ^ Content-area teachers who had completed the mandated teacher training were surveyed using self-administered anonymous questionnaires mailed to their school sites. Questions focused on the teachers' perceptions of: students' need of second language instructional strategies within the content-area classroom; teacher training requirements mandated by the Consent Decree; and changes in their instructional practices as a result of the training. ^ Based on the responses of the subjects, the results of this study indicate the overall success of the training implemented to comply with the stipulations set forth in the Consent Decree. In general, the results indicate that the teachers perceive that they are ultimately in agreement with the mandated training. The results also indicate that the teachers perceive a need for second language strategies when working with language minority students. These results can serve as starting point for further research not only into teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of training for teachers of language minority students but also into the outcomes of this teacher training as it is reflected within the classroom. ^

Professional development programs in health promotion : tools and processes to favor new practices

Developing innovative interventions that are in sync with a health promotion paradigm often represents a challenge for professionals working in local public health organizations. Thus, it is critical to have both professional development programs that favor new practices and tools to examine these practices. In this case study, we analyze the health promotion approach used in a pilot intervention addressing children’s vulnerability that was developed and carried out by participants enrolled in a public health professional development program. More specifically, we use a modified version of Guichard and Ridde’s (Une grille d’analyse des actions pour lutter contre les inégalités sociales de santé. In Potvin, L., Moquet, M.-J. and Jones, C. M. (eds), Réduire les Inégalités Sociales en Santé. INPES, Saint-Denis Cedex, pp. 297– 312, 2010) analytical grid to assess deductively the program participants’ use of health promotion practices in the analysis and planning, implementation, evaluation, sustainability and empowerment phases of the pilot intervention. We also seek evidence of practices involving (empowerment, participation, equity, holism, an ecological approach, intersectorality and sustainability) in the intervention. The results are mixed: our findings reveal evidence of the application of several dimensions of health promotion (equity, holism, an ecological approach, intersectorality and sustainability), but also a lack of integration of two key dimensions; that is, empowerment and participation, during various phases of the pilot intervention. These results show that the professional development program is associated with the adoption of a pilot intervention integrating multiple but not all dimensions of health promotion. We make recommendations to facilitate a more complete integration. This research also shows that the Guichard and Ridde grid proves to be a thorough instrument to document the practices of participants.

Working in a Mexican Classroom: An Autoethnographic Study

This autoethnographical study seeks to develop a deeper understanding of the challenges that are faced by the researcher in adapting to a new cultural and linguistic setting as well as describing the teaching practices that the researcher encounters in a Mexican classroom; data will be collected through the process of reflective journaling as well as the collection of pictures and artifacts.

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada : Government in Exile? (Working Paper 31)

How can a "servant of Parliament" be held in check if it disregards the constitutional conventions of responsible government and takes a place in its own right in the representative institutions? the paper presents a history of the modernization of the legislative audit in the federal Parliament. It considers the evolution of the powers and practices of the Office of the Auditor General, how its role has become intertwined with that of Treasury Board Secretariat, and the eclipse of the House of Commons' Standing Committee on Public Accounts. The paper is an abridged version of a paper prepared for a conference in Saskatoon in November, 2001. It is to be published in a UBC Press volume edited by David Smith, John Courtney and Duff Spafford of the Department of Political Science at the University of Saskatchewan. The Press will hold copyright. See also "Biggest Scandal in Canadian History," School of Policy Studies Working Paper Number 23.

Marginalised Mothers: Exploring Working Class Experiences

Successive moral panics have cast poor or socially excluded mothers - associated with social problems as diverse as crime, underachievement, unemployment and mental illness - as bad mothers. Their mothering practices are held up as the antithesis of good parenting and are associated with poor outcomes for children. Marginalised Mothers provides a detailed and much-needed insight into the lived experience of mothers who are frequently the focus of public concern and intervention, yet all too often have their voices and experiences overlooked. The book explores how they make sense of their lives with their children and families, position themselves within a context of inequality and vulnerability, and resist, subvert and survive material and social marginalisation. This controversial text uses qualitative data from a selection of working class mothers to highlight the opportunities and choices they face and to expose the middle class assumptions that ground much contemporary family policy. It will be of interest to students and researchers in sociology, social work and social policy, as well as social workers and policymakers.

Valorization of cultural diversity throught Good Practices Dissemination on Art Mediation: sharing experiencies

In this article, as part of the Erasmus+ project “Divercity”, we focus on the collection and analysis of good practices in Spain and other countries in Europe. The project revolves around the development of methods that valorize cultural diversity and in this respect, identifying and sharing best practices on diversity and inclusion through artistic mediation inside museums, culture institutions, our urban walks, forms an mandatory stage of the research process.

Community owned solutions: identifying local best practices for social-ecological sustainability

Policies and actions that come from higher scale structures, such as international bodies and national governments, are not always compatible with the realities and perspectives of smaller scale units including indigenous communities. Yet, it is at this local social-ecological scale that mechanisms and solutions for dealing with unpredictability and change can be increasingly seen emerging from across the world. Although there is a large body of knowledge specifying the conditions necessary to promote local governance of natural resources, there is a parallel need to develop practical methods for operationalizing the evaluation of local social-ecological systems. In this paper, we report on a systemic, participatory, and visual approach for engaging local communities in an exploration of their own social-ecological system. Working with indigenous communities of the North Rupununi, Guyana, this involved using participatory video and photography within a system viability framework to enable local participants to analyze their own situation by defining indicators of successful strategies that were meaningful to them. Participatory multicriteria analysis was then used to arrive at a short list of best practice strategies. We present six best practices and show how they are intimately linked through the themes of indigenous knowledge, local governance and values, and partnerships and networks. We highlight how developing shared narratives of community owned solutions can help communities to plan governance and management of land and resource systems, while reinforcing sustainable practices by discussing and showcasing them within communities, and by engendering a sense of pride in local solutions.

Consequences of intercultural practices in Miguel Sousa Tavares' Equator

This article involves the analysis of a case-study, so I have chosen Equador by the Portuguese author Miguel Sousa Tavares. His book recreates the story of Sao Tome and Principe's people living under strict circumstances, while belonging to the Portuguese empire as one of its overseas' province. The forthcoming lines contain an approach to interculturality by analyzing these concrete circumstances. These lines also describe and study the differences between cultures - the Portuguese, as a European culture, and the Equatorial, as a colonized people's culture. The theme is old, but always relevant: the clash of value systems and the impossibility of forcibly overlaying one society on another. Slavery has existed as a common practice in most civilizations throughout history, based upon the superiority of a human being towards another. In socially hierarchized communities slavery was a major principle, almost a need. That way, some would benefit from exuberating privileges but many others only from hard working and giving their freedom up to be mistreated instead. In order to have a socially structured community, they were to be seriously and consciously neglected.

MANICURE/PEDICURE TECHNICIANS: BIOSECURITY KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES FOR VIRAL HEPATITIS

Objetivo: Investigar o conhecimento e as práticas de biossegurança para hepatites virais de manicures/pedicures. Métodos: Estudo descritivo, transversal, quantitativo, através de questionário, utilizando instrumento de coleta de dados autoaplicado elaborado pelos pesquisadores, contendo dados da população (sexo, idade, tempo de atuação profissional) e conhecimentos básicos sobre transmissão de hepatite e práticas de biossegurança e higiene. Resultados: Entrevistaram-se 96 manicures/pedicures que atuam no Noroeste do Paraná. A maioria das profissionais já ouviu falar da patologia, mas somente 41,7% (n=40) fizeram o exame para detecção do vírus da hepatite; 38,39% (n=77) relataram como via de transmissão o sangue e 31,8% (n=63), a relação sexual. A reutilização de materiais descartáveis foi relatada por 60,4% (n=58); 55,2% (n=53) realizam esterilização de materiais e 27,1% (n=26) não a realizam. Não ficou evidenciada associação significativa entre tempo de profissão e as variáveis utilizadas: ouviu sobre hepatite (p=0,77025), realização de exames (p=0,035476), reutilização de materiais descartáveis (p=0,42691), lavagem de mãos (p=0,32876), uso de luvas descartáveis (p=0,33752) e esterilização de materiais (p=0,84443). Conclusão: As manicures entrevistadas não conhecem as exigências da Vigilância Sanitária no que concerne à prevenção da transmissão de hepatites.

Using Intelligent Agents to Understand Management Practices and Retail Productivity

Intelligent agents offer a new and exciting way of understanding the world of work. In this paper we apply agent-based modeling and simulation to investigate a set of problems in a retail context. Specifically, we are working to understand the relationship between human resource management practices and retail productivity. Despite the fact we are working within a relatively novel and complex domain, it is clear that intelligent agents could offer potential for fostering sustainable organizational capabilities in the future. The project is still at an early stage. So far we have conducted a case study in a UK department store to collect data and capture impressions about operations and actors within departments. Furthermore, based on our case study we have built and tested our first version of a retail branch simulator which we will present in this paper.

Understanding Retail Productivity by Simulating Management Practices

Intelligent agents offer a new and exciting way of understanding the world of work. In this paper we apply agent-based modeling and simulation to investigate a set of problems in a retail context. Specifically, we are working to understand the relationship between human resource management practices and retail productivity. Despite the fact we are working within a relatively novel and complex domain, it is clear that intelligent agents could offer potential for fostering sustainable organizational capabilities in the future. Our research so far has led us to conduct case study work with a top ten UK retailer, collecting data in four departments in two stores. Based on our case study data we have built and tested a first version of a department store simulator. In this paper we will report on the current development of our simulator which includes new features concerning more realistic data on the pattern of footfall during the day and the week, a more differentiated view of customers, and the evolution of customers over time. This allows us to investigate more complex scenarios and to analyze the impact of various management practices.

A Multi-Agent Simulation of Retail Management Practices

We apply Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation (ABMS) to investigate a set of problems in a retail context. Specifically, we are working to understand the relationship between human resource management practices and retail productivity. Despite the fact we are working within a relatively novel and complex domain, it is clear that intelligent agents do offer potential for developing organizational capabilities in the future. Our multi-disciplinary research team has worked with a UK department store to collect data and capture perceptions about operations from actors within departments. Based on this case study work, we have built a simulator that we present in this paper. We then use the simulator to gather empirical evidence regarding two specific management practices: empowerment and employee development.

Multi-Agent Simulation and Management Practices

Intelligent agents offer a new and exciting way of understanding the world of work. Agent-Based Simulation (ABS), one way of using intelligent agents, carries great potential for progressing our understanding of management practices and how they link to retail performance. We have developed simulation models based on research by a multi-disciplinary team of economists, work psychologists and computer scientists. We will discuss our experiences of implementing these concepts working with a well-known retail department store. There is no doubt that management practices are linked to the performance of an organisation (Reynolds et al., 2005; Wall & Wood, 2005). Best practices have been developed, but when it comes down to the actual application of these guidelines considerable ambiguity remains regarding their effectiveness within particular contexts (Siebers et al., forthcoming a). Most Operational Research (OR) methods can only be used as analysis tools once management practices have been implemented. Often they are not very useful for giving answers to speculative ‘what-if’ questions, particularly when one is interested in the development of the system over time rather than just the state of the system at a certain point in time. Simulation can be used to analyse the operation of dynamic and stochastic systems. ABS is particularly useful when complex interactions between system entities exist, such as autonomous decision making or negotiation. In an ABS model the researcher explicitly describes the decision process of simulated actors at the micro level. Structures emerge at the macro level as a result of the actions of the agents and their interactions with other agents and the environment. We will show how ABS experiments can deal with testing and optimising management practices such as training, empowerment or teamwork. Hence, questions such as “will staff setting their own break times improve performance?” can be investigated.

Professional development programs in health promotion : tools and processes to favor new practices

Developing innovative interventions that are in sync with a health promotion paradigm often represents a challenge for professionals working in local public health organizations. Thus, it is critical to have both professional development programs that favor new practices and tools to examine these practices. In this case study, we analyze the health promotion approach used in a pilot intervention addressing children’s vulnerability that was developed and carried out by participants enrolled in a public health professional development program. More specifically, we use a modified version of Guichard and Ridde’s (Une grille d’analyse des actions pour lutter contre les inégalités sociales de santé. In Potvin, L., Moquet, M.-J. and Jones, C. M. (eds), Réduire les Inégalités Sociales en Santé. INPES, Saint-Denis Cedex, pp. 297– 312, 2010) analytical grid to assess deductively the program participants’ use of health promotion practices in the analysis and planning, implementation, evaluation, sustainability and empowerment phases of the pilot intervention. We also seek evidence of practices involving (empowerment, participation, equity, holism, an ecological approach, intersectorality and sustainability) in the intervention. The results are mixed: our findings reveal evidence of the application of several dimensions of health promotion (equity, holism, an ecological approach, intersectorality and sustainability), but also a lack of integration of two key dimensions; that is, empowerment and participation, during various phases of the pilot intervention. These results show that the professional development program is associated with the adoption of a pilot intervention integrating multiple but not all dimensions of health promotion. We make recommendations to facilitate a more complete integration. This research also shows that the Guichard and Ridde grid proves to be a thorough instrument to document the practices of participants.

Modelling and simulating retail management practices: a first approach

Multi-agent systems offer a new and exciting way of understanding the world of work. We apply agent-based modeling and simulation to investigate a set of problems in a retail context. Specifically, we are working to understand the relationship between people management practices on the shop-floor and retail performance. Despite the fact we are working within a relatively novel and complex domain, it is clear that using an agent-based approach offers great potential for improving organizational capabilities in the future. Our multi-disciplinary research team has worked closely with one of the UK’s top ten retailers to collect data and build an understanding of shop-floor operations and the key actors in a department (customers, staff, and managers). Based on this case study we have built and tested our first version of a retail branch agent-based simulation model where we have focused on how we can simulate the effects of people management practices on customer satisfaction and sales. In our experiments we have looked at employee development and cashier empowerment as two examples of shop floor management practices. In this paper we describe the underlying conceptual ideas and the features of our simulation model. We present a selection of experiments we have conducted in order to validate our simulation model and to show its potential for answering “what-if” questions in a retail context. We also introduce a novel performance measure which we have created to quantify customers’ satisfaction with service, based on their individual shopping experiences.