Weathering the crisis? Managing democracy at a national broadcaster

With post-2008 political and economic crises as its backdrop, this inquiry into the political roles and functions of public service broadcasting (PSB) in Ireland is principally concerned with examining the capacities for and actuality of critical and counter-hegemonic professional journalistic and institutional mediations of crisis. Recognising the diversity of influences on the normative identity of Irish PSB, the dissertation adopts a sociological approach that acknowledges the systemic embedding of media institutions in the broader field of power. An initial tracing of the formative impacts of endogenous and exogenous forces on the democratic horizons of PSB suggests that the present crisis conjuncture does not represent promising terrain for engendering critical crisis and recovery imaginaries. A methodologically diverse intra-institutional empirical research agenda aims to explore at close hand Irish PSB’s contingent navigation of crisis, encompassing ethnographic observation in the newsroom, practitioner interviews and textual analysis of broadcast output. These methods afford close analysis of practices of journalistic production and reflexivity, self-conceptions of the journalistic habitus, and ideological affinities of crisis framings in broadcast output. These analyses are supplemented by a participant observation study of the possibilities for public agenda-building in a key institutional venue of public participation in broadcasting governance. The findings offer an evidential basis for the arguments that the crisis has prompted only minimal changes to professional norms and practices of representation and inclusion; that journalistic crisis framings tend toward effecting hegemonic repair by lending support to neoliberal crisis and recovery imaginaries; and that the institutional openings for the building of public counterpower are highly constrained. The overall conclusion is made that the normative democratic orientation embedded in the professional and institutional projects of public service broadcasting help render it ill-equipped to act as a re-democratising countervailing power against the democratic regressions engendered by the present crisis of democratic capitalism.

Are you ready for a tender project? – Analysis of organisational project management maturity in the Austrian-Hungarian border region

Are you ready for a tender project? – Analysis of organisational project management maturity in the Austrian- Hungarian border region. Since the 1990s the European Union has paid more and more attention to subsidising cross-border development. It is understandable that different funding from proposal sources is particularly important for the border area, especially to those of utmost importance that support co-operation and rural development. Therefore, they could become a driving force for development. The authors’ research analyses the organisational project management maturity of the projects implemented in the frame of the Austria-Hungary Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013 (AT-HU). Analysing this kind of organisation is an important issue, since the new call for proposals are open in 2016 and the results of this study may provide a self-evaluation opportunity to organisations that need to know if they are ready or mature enough for a new tender project. The aim of this study was twofold. First of all, those indicators that could be used to analyse the project management maturity of implementing organisations in the AT-HU programme were identified. Based on the empirical research these are the project experience accumulated by the organisation, the internal processes operating at the institution and the professional background. Secondly, factors that can affect this project management maturity were explored and we determined five influencing area: the organisational structure, culture, project managers motivation and the typical and important competences.

Lehrende als ‘agents of change’ - Konzeptionelle Überlegungen zu einer kinderrechtlichen Annotation und Ausdeutung der Standards für die Lehrerbildung

Die Dissertation geht von der Überlegung aus, dass ein Wandel im deutschen Bildungssystem aufgrund kinderrechtlicher und demokratischer Überlegungen eine essenzielle Zukunftsaufgabe ist. Dies geschieht im Besonderen vor dem Hintergrund kinderrechtlicher Forderungen, wie sie beispielsweise aus dem Status Deutschlands als Mitgliedsland der UN-Kinderrechtskonvention und des UN-Übereinkommens über die Rechte von Menschen mit Behinderung entstehen: Die Korrelation zwischen Herkunft und Bildungserfolg sowie die noch konzeptionell ungenügend entwickelten Ansätze zur Inklusion werden als bestimmend für die Diskussion erkannt. Die Arbeit vertritt die These, dass Lehrende eine zentrale Rolle in einem notwendigen Prozess der Umwandlung des deutschen Bildungssystems spielen können und nimmt in emanzipatorischer Absicht die Lehrenden als Zielgruppe in den Blick. Aufgrund der Struktur der Lehrendenausbildung wird zudem dafür argumentiert, entsprechende Veränderungen im Sinne ihrer Nachhaltigkeit und flächendeckenden Relevanz in der Lehrendenausbildung des ersten universitären Ausbildungsabschnittes zu verankern. Als Instrument, welches die Kriterien von Nachhaltigkeit und umfassender Relevanz erfüllt, werden die Standards für die Lehrerbildung im Bereich Bildungswissenschaften benannt und theoretisch unterfüttert. Grundsätzlich spannt sich der Blickwinkel der Arbeit zwischen der Betrachtung der Struktur des Bildungssystems, des Wissens und Könnens von Lehrenden und Lernenden im Sinne der Kompetenzorientierung sowie der Haltung auf, welche Lehrende einnehmen. Dabei wird aufgezeigt, dass sich diese Faktoren wechselseitig auf vielfache Art und Weise beeinflussen. Auf der Basis dieser Überlegungen wird zunächst das deutsche Bildungssystem in seinen Strukturen beschrieben und die Lehrenden und Lernenden als Teilnehmende am Bildungsgeschehen skizziert. Ein exkursiver Vergleich dreier aufgrund kinderrechtlicher Parameter ausgewählter europäischer Bildungssysteme eruiert zudem, inwiefern die aufgezeigten Bestimmungsgrößen Struktur, Wissen/Können und Haltung Einfluss auf kinderrechtliche Verfasstheit des Bildungssystems nehmen, wobei die Grundprinzipien der UN-Kinderrechtskonvention hier als Messinstrument dienen. Davon ausgehend, erscheint pädagogische Haltung als eine wesentliche Einflussgröße, die im weiteren Verlauf der Arbeit im Sinne der kritischen Pädagogik zu einer Konzeption Pädagogischer Verantwortung verdichtet wird. Vor diesem Hintergrund erfolgt eine Betrachtung aktueller Problematiken im deutschen Bildungssystem, die sich an den in den Standards für die Lehrerbildung identifizierten Ausbildungsschwerpunkten orientiert und erneut die Prinzipien und rechtlichen Vorgaben der UN-Kinderrechtskonvention als Maßstab wählt. Auf der Grundlage dieser umfassenden Diskussion werden in einem sich anschließenden Analyseschritt Annotationen vorgenommen, die die Formulierungen der 11 Standards für die Lehrerbildung inhaltlich erweitern und ergänzen. In Verbindung mit einer Pädagogischen Verantwortung, die sich der Ausbildung kritischer Mündigkeit verpflichtet, werden die annotierten Standards als eine Möglichkeit der kinderrechtlichen (Selbst-)Evaluation von Lehrenden sowie als Instrument einer kinderrechtliche Gesichtspunkte fokussierenden Lehrendenbildung verstanden und dargestellt.

L’inclusion scolaire dans l’enseignement primaire: L’évaluative formative comme source de progression collective?

Ce travail s’inscrit dans le champ des recherches concernant les pratiques inclusives en milieu scolaire ordinaire dans l’enseignement primaire. En France, le système éducatif propose de scolariser les élèves à besoins éducatifs particuliers soit en classe ordinaire, soit en classe spécialisée, bien que les gouvernements valorisent l’accueil en milieu ordinaire depuis la loi de 2005. Or, ceci questionne les pratiques des acteurs de l’école sur la prise en charge de ces élèves. Partant des travaux montrant que les enseignants utilisant l’évaluation formative gèrent mieux la diversité des élèves, nous étudions ici dans quelle mesure cette fonction de l’évaluation aiderait les élèves présentant des besoins éducatifs particuliers à acquérir des connaissances grâce aux feedbacks émis lors d’évaluations orales et de corrections collectives. L’analyse des données recueillies à l’aide d’entretiensavec des enseignants et d’observations d’élèves fait ressortir les attitudes des acteurs, les interactions et les régulations. (DIPF/Orig.)

Diseño de un modelo de situación problema, con la unidad facilitadora solidaria llamada Belisol, para fortalecer el pensamiento numérico y variacional, en los estudiantes de la Institución Educativa Rural Benigno Mena González

Al analizar los resultados deficientes de las Pruebas Saber, del PTA ( Programa Todos a Aprender del MEN), y la participación en las Olimpiadas del Conocimiento, de los estudiantes de la Institución Educativa Rural Benigno Mena González del municipio de San Jerónimo, se consideró implementar un proyecto pedagógico, como plan de mejoramiento para la enseñanza y aprendizaje de las matemáticas, que sirviera como una iniciativa para fortalecer los pensamientos numérico y variacional en los estudiantes de secundaria de la Institución; se buscaba, con la implementación de esta propuesta, desarrollar habilidades en dominio, comprensión y solución de situaciones problemas cotidianas dentro del contexto escolar y desde la innovación de nuevas prácticas metodológicas en los procesos educativos. Desde esta perspectiva, nace el interrogante: ¿Cómo modelar una situación problema, teniendo como motivo la unidad facilitadora solidaria denominada Belisol, para fortalecer el pensamiento numérico y variacional, en los estudiantes de la Institución Educativa Rural Benigno Mena González del municipio de San Jerónimo?, para dar tránsito a una propuesta de investigación innovadora. Ahora bien, para intervenir y reflexionar sobre este interrogante, se propuso el método de Investigación Acción Participación (IAP), el cual se aplica a estudios que se interesan sobre realidades humanas y problemáticas cotidianas o sociales, que además, sean reales, de la acción, y de constante participación de los sujetos, entidades o comunidades involucradas; aquí cabe la posibilidad de un aprendizaje cooperativo, colectivo, y por supuesto, colaborativo donde se ha planteado como motivo de la situación problema planteada la unidad financiera llamada Belisol con el fin de exteriorizar los fundamentos de una acción formativa, orientada a la incursión en el ámbito de la educación matemática económica financiera, a través del ejercicio del ahorro escolar y el trueque, promoviendo de esta manera el espíritu solidario en la comunidad Benigniana.

A formação em educação ambiental na ênfase em gestão de patrimônio socioambiental do curso de História - Bacharelado da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande

A presente dissertação de mestrado teve como fenômeno de estudo a Ênfase em Gestão do Patrimônio Socioambiental do curso de História Bacharelado da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande – FURG, buscando compreender o processo de constituição e desenvolvimento desta Ênfase e suas articulações com a Educação Ambiental. Para tanto, foram elencadas três hipóteses: (a) a Ênfase em Gestão do Patrimônio Socioambiental do curso de Bacharelado em História da FURG não é estruturada e nem desenvolvida a partir das emergências da crise estrutural da qual a crise ambiental é um aspecto latente; (b) os saberes desenvolvidos na Ênfase não possibilitam que o egresso desenvolva a criticidade e a formação necessária para o cumprimento de sua função socioambiental; (c) a Educação Ambiental desenvolvida na Ênfase em Gestão do Patrimônio Socioambiental do curso de História – Bacharelado da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande – FURG não é expressão de uma ciência que se pretenda a serviço da classe trabalhadora e que se proponha a encarar os desafios das questões impostas pela crise ambiental. Em decorrência destas, foi desenvolvido um objetivo geral e três objetivos específicos, sendo eles: (a) Entender as condições sociais de crise ambiental em meio as quais surge a necessidade de gestores do patrimônio socioambiental; (b) Analisar os aspectos teóricos do campo da Educação Ambiental e a compreensão de ciência presentes na formação dos gestores do patrimônio socioambiental; (c) Identificar, no Projeto Pedagógico do curso de História Bacharelado, os aspectos políticos que demonstrem a função social do egresso. Ainda no sentido de atender ao objetivo geral foram organizadas quatro questões de pesquisa, a saber: (a) Quais as emergências da necessidade de criação da Ênfase em Gestão do Patrimônio Socioambiental no curso de História - Bacharelado da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande - FURG? (b) Que perspectiva de Educação Ambiental tem os professores da Ênfase em Gestão do Patrimônio Socioambiental do curso de História - Bacharelado da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande - FURG? (c) Que compreensão de ciência e de Educação Ambiental está vinculada à formação dos egressos da Ênfase em Gestão do Patrimônio Socioambiental do curso de História - Bacharelado da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande - FURG? (d) Quais saberes são fundamentais na formação dos gestores do patrimônio socioambiental para que compreendam os fundamentos da crise que faz emergir a necessidade da função social de tal ênfase? Nesta pesquisa foram utilizados, prioritariamente, os referenciais teóricos e epistemológicos com vinculação à compreensão de mundo marxista. Após o processo de revisão bibliográfica foram desenvolvidas entrevistas semi-estruturadas com sete professores atuantes na ênfase em estudo. Na sequência, para apreciação das informações, foi utilizado o referencial metodológico da Análise de Conteúdo de Laurence Bardin. Concluiu-se no processo de pesquisa que a ênfase se relaciona com a oferta de novas possibilidades de atuação profissional do historiador gestor. Bem como os saberes desenvolvidos na ênfase possibilitam parcialmente a constituição da criticidade dos egressos. Por fim, a Educação Ambiental desenvolvida na ênfase não pode, em sua totalidade, estar a serviço da classe trabalhadora, pois está circunscrita, no presente momento histórico, aos limites do Capital.

Financial stocks and political bonds: stock market participation and political behavior in the United States and Britain

This dissertation investigates the effect of stock market participation on political behavior. Some observers claim that financial assets—stocks and mutual funds—have a causal effect on political behavior. The “investor class theory” asserts that as people invest in the stock market their partisan attachments shift rightward. The “asset effect theory” claims that financial investments increase political interest and participation. I examine these claims with longitudinal data from the United States and Great Britain covering a twenty-year period from the early 1980s through the mid-2000’s. I also examine the effect of financial asset ownership on political attitudes in the United States during the 2008 stock market crash. I find no evidence to support the argument that stock market participation has any causal effect on partisanship, participation, or political attitudes.

A simbiose da educação - aprender a aprender em educação pré-escolar e ensino do 1º ciclo do ensino básico

Relatório de Estágio apresentado à Escola Superior de Educação de Paula Frassinetti para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

Working for Families Phase 1 Evaluation 2004-2006 Executive Summary.

This report presents an evaluation of Phase 1 of the Working for Families Fund (WFF) covering 2004-06. WFF was established to invest in new initiatives to improve the employability of parents who have difficulties in participating in the labour market, specifically in employment, education or training. The Fund supported these parents through helping them find sustainable childcare solutions and through providing or accessing other relevant employability-related services. In rural areas, barriers created by poor transport, limited services and the lack of a critical mass of clients were also particularly important. WFF contributes to the Scottish Executive’s Closing the Opportunity Gap approach to tackling poverty and disadvantage, by improving rates of employment and economic activity, and to its commitment to eradicating child poverty within a generation.

Demokratische Bildung und Beteiligung nahe an den Lebenswelten. Möglichkeiten des Legislativen Theaters

Politische Teilhabe und Raum für Subjektivität gehen Hand in Hand. Menschen in schwierigen und benachteiligten Lebenslagen wird der Raum für unabhängiges, kritisches, politisches Denken und Handeln aufgrund der Prekarität ihres Lebensalltages jedoch zusehends entzogen. Theaterarbeit kann hier ein Ort sein, um (wieder) Zugang zum eigenen Erleben, zu den eigenen Sichtweisen und zur eigenen Sprache zu finden; Beteiligung wird erfahrbar gemacht und soziale Grenzen können überschritten werden. Im Zentrum des vorliegenden Beitrages steht das Legislative Theater nach Augusto Boal, das politische Öffentlichkeit unter Einschluss der "Ausgeschlossenen" ermöglicht und darüber hinaus demokratische Beteiligung eröffnet. Vorgestellt werden Geschichte, Ablauf, aber auch drei konkret von InterACT umgesetzte Beispiele in Österreich und deren nachhaltige politische Einflussnahme. Fazit des Autors: Politisches und demokratisches Lernen entwickeln sich vor allem nahe an den Lebenslagen und Lebenswelten des/der Einzelnen. (DIPF/Orig.)

A avaliação das escolas: efeitos da avaliação externa nas dinâmicas de autoavaliação da escola

No contexto educativo português existem, atualmente, orientações legais para que as escolas sejam, por um lado, sujeitas a processos de avaliação externa e, por outro, induzidas a criar mecanismos de autoavaliação. Embora a escola seja, pelo menos em parte, um “locus de produção normativa”, na prática não tem sido fácil o diálogo entre a avaliação externa e os processos de mudança e melhoria, através da autoavaliação institucional. Num contexto onde as politicas nem sempre criam os estímulos e as condições adequadas, a ação organizacional em torno dos processos avaliativos acaba por refletir o jogo dos atores. Face à “natureza política” da avaliação, as escolas e os seus atores recorrem a “soluções organizacionais” que lhes permitem, em função dos interesses e dos objetivos individuais e organizativos, gerir as pressões e as expetativas do seu meio institucional. O presente trabalho pretende encontrar respostas sobre os efeitos do programa de avaliação externa das escolas (AEE) nas dinâmicas de autoavaliação e nos planos de ação para a melhoria da escola. Trata-se de uma investigação inserida numa matriz de cariz essencialmente qualitativo que opta pelo estudo de casos múltiplos. A informação foi recolhida através de várias fontes: observação direta, grupo focal (focus group), entrevistas, inquérito por questionário e análise documental. Os resultados tendem a evidenciar que as organizações educativas, nas respostas às prescrições externas para a avaliação e melhoria da escola recorrem a estratégias e táticas plurais, de tal modo que as mudanças que ocorrem, mais do que respostas à necessidade de eficácia e melhoria interna da escola, traduzem-se em processos de adaptação, que variam consoante as tensões existentes entre o contexto institucional e o ambiente competitivo onde as escolas estão inseridas; Abstract: The Evaluation of Schools: Effects of External Evaluation in the dynamics of Self-evaluation of Schools In the Portuguese educational context, there are currently legal guidelines for schools to be subject to external evaluation process, on the one hand, and on the other hand induced to create self-assessment mechanisms. Although the school is at least partly a "normative production locus", in practice the dialogue between the external evaluation and the processes of change and improvement through institutional self-assessment has not been easy. In a context where the policies do not always create the incentives and the right conditions, the organizational action around the evaluative process ends up reflecting the set of actors. Before the "political nature" of the evaluation, the schools and their actors recur to "organizational solutions" that allow them, in the interests of individual and organizational goals, to manage the pressures and expectations of its institutional environment. This work aims at finding answers to the effects of the External Schools Evaluation (ESE) programme, in the dynamics of self-evaluation and action plans for the improvement of school. It is an investigation inserted into an oriented matrix, essentially of qualitative nature that opts for multiple case studies. The information was collected through various sources: direct observation, focus group, interviews, questionnaire survey and document analysis. The results tend to show that educational organizations, in response to the external requirements for assessing and improving, use plural strategies and tactics. Similarly, the changes that occur in the structures, processes and practices, more than answers to the need for efficiency and indoor improvement of the school, result into adjustment processes, that change according to the existing tensions between the institutional context and the competitive environment where schools are located.

Relatório Final de Estágio em Enfermagem Comunitária

O presente Relatório está contextualizado no plano curricular de estágio do 1º Mestrado em Enfermagem da Escola Superior de Saúde de Portalegre - Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre, na Área de Especialização em Enfermagem Comunitária, que decorreu entre 14 de Fevereiro a 30 de Junho de 2011. O estágio foi dividido em duas áreas de intervenção comunitárias distintas: a primeira na área da educação sexual na adolescência que se realizou na Escola Secundária Mouzinho da Silveira e na Escola Secundária de São Lourenço, surgindo como resposta a um projeto trabalho conjunto entre esta escola e a Escola Superior de Saúde de Portalegre, onde foi realizado por nós um diagnóstico de situação. A segunda intervenção surge na área da promoção da imagem da Escola Superior de Saúde de Portalegre, que visou facilitar as escolhas da vida profissional através da promoção da imagem da escola e do conhecimento da oferta formativa nela existente junto dos alunos do 9º e 12º anos do concelho de Portalegre e na informação para o desenvolvimento e promoção de hábitos de vida saudáveis por parte dos jovens e ainda a demonstração da execução do suporte básico de vida. A população alvo de intervenção foram os alunos do 8º,9º 10º, entre os 13 e os 22 anos, num total de 693 jovens. Os objetivos do estágio foram: adquirir competências tendo por base a metodologia do planeamento em saúde, na avaliação do estado de saúde desta comunidade; bem como: Contribuir para o processo de capacitação desta comunidade. Conhecer os comportamentos e os estilos de vida dos adolescentes, integrados no sistema educativo. Em relação ao relatório de estagio o principal objetivo foi: encontrar respostas honestas e proceder a uma auto-avaliação construtiva e de aprendizagem pessoal (Soares et al 1997: 36)

Mathematical pedagogical content knowledge in early childhood education: A study in initial teacher education in Portugal

The study aims to explore the specificity of mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Early Childhood Education Pedagogy. The pedagogy of ECE (Siraj-Blatchford, 2010) and the didactics of ECE (Pramling & Pramling-Samuelsson, 2011) suggest dimensions of knowledge that require strong content and PC knowledge of teachers. Recent studies about PCK of ECE teachers highlight similar specific dimensions: organization of educational environment and interactions with children (Lee, 2010, McCray, 2008, Rojas, 2008). The current framework for ECE Teacher Education in Portugal (since 2007) focuses both content knowledge and subject didactics. PCK has been labelled the 'great unknown' in ECE (Rojas, 2008) in traditions where the child's development is considered as the main knowledge base for ECE (Chen & McNamee, 2006, Cullen, 2005, Hedges & Cullen, 2005). We studied the perspectives of 27 initial teacher education students about knowledge for teaching and about ECE Pedagogy. We used one open-ended questionnaire and students' analysis of episodes focusing children's answers or discourse relevant for mathematics (about high numbers and square root). The questionnaire was anonymous and students’ permission to use the answers was obtained. In the questionnaire, interactions with children (62%) and organization of the educational environment (38%) are highlighted as the most important focus for the teacher. Students suggested tasks that were adult planned and oriented to further the situations presented in the episodes. Very few references to children's exploratory actions (Bonawitz et al., 2011) were made. The specificity of ECE (child initiated activities, e.g.) needs to be further developed in initial teacher education.

Leadership and Pedagogical Interaction as Predictors of Learning Outcomes in Physical Education

This research aims to understand the relative contribution of leadership styles and teacher-student and student-student pedagogical interaction concerning learning performance and academic achievement in Physical Education. A quantitative methodology was implemented, comprising a sample of 447 students attending a school grouping located in the coastal region of central Portugal. In order to verify the nature, the strength and the direction of the relations among the variables, correlation and multiple regression analyses were used. For this, scales already validated and used in other researches were applied. The results show that the learning performance and the academic achievement are significantly associated with teacher leadership styles and teacher-student and student-student pedagogical interaction. A stronger association was obtained with leadership styles, especially the democratic one. It should be mentioned that these factors provide a higher relative contribution to the learning performance than to the academic achievement. The analysis conducted highlights the importance of the democratic teacher leadership style and of the pedagogical interaction established within the classroom towards the improvement of students’ ability to understand the gains and the effort made in learning.

Early Childhood Education For Sustainable Development in Portugal

This chapter reports on the Portuguese trial of the Environmental Rating Scale for Sustainable Development in Early Childhood (ERS-SDEC) scale which was carried out in the context of the initial training of pre-school teachers at the University of Évora and during their practicum in local pre-schools. The particular context of this trial in initial teacher education provides a particular focus on the professional development of the students, and the cooperating teachers provided by their engagement in a collaborative action-research project that was focused upon Education for Sustainable Development. After providing some Portuguese contextual elements related with ESD, we will report on the trial of the scale in Évora and its results in terms of improving the quality of classroom practices and students and teachers professional development provided by their participation in the project. Finally we will share some reflections on the project, the format and use of the scale and on some critical issues that we learned to be critical in terms of ESD in Early Childhood.