Mitigating Social Risk in the Extractive Sector: Developing Intercultural Competence as a Tool for Negotiating Western-Indigenous Perspectives within the Undergraduate Mining Engineering Curriculum

Drawing upon critical, communications, and educational theories, this thesis develops a novel framing of the problem of social risk in the extractive sector, as it relates to the building of respectful relationships with indigenous peoples. Building upon Bakhtin’s dialogism, the thesis demonstrates the linkage of this aspect of social risk to professional education, and specifically, to the undergraduate mining engineering curriculum, and develops a framework for the development of skills related to intercultural competence in the education of mining engineers. The knowledge of social risk, as well as the level of intercultural competence, of students in the mining engineering program, is investigated through a mixture of surveys and focus groups – as is the impact of specific learning interventions. One aspect of this investigation is whether development of these attributes alters graduates’ conception of their identity as mining engineers, i.e. the range and scope of responsibilities, and understanding of to whom responsibilities are owed, and their role in building trusting relationships with communities. Survey results demonstrate that student openness to the perspectives of other cultures increases with exposure to the second year curriculum. Students became more knowledgeable about social dimensions of responsible mining, but not about cultural dimensions. Analysis of focus group data shows that students are highly motivated to improve community perspectives and acceptance. It is observed that students want to show respect for diverse peoples and communities where they will work, but they are hampered by their inability to appreciate the viewpoints of people who do not share their values. They embrace benefit sharing and environmental protection as norms, but they mistakenly conclude that opposition to mining is rooted in a lack of education rather than in cultural values. Three, sequential, threshold concepts are identified as impeding development of intercultural competence: Awareness and Acknowledgement of Different Forms of Knowledge; Recognition that Value Systems are a Function of Culture; Respect for varied perceptions of Social Wellbeing and Quality of Life. Future curriculum development in the undergraduate mining engineering program, as well as in other educational programs relevant to the extractive sector, can be effectively targeted by focusing on these threshold concepts.

Decolonizing Pedagogies: Interrupting the Settler Colonial Narrative of Landownership in Ontario Social Science and History Curriculum

Drawing upon Ontario Social Science and History curriculum documents and textbook imagery and language, this paper examines how narratives of settler landownership strategically present Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples within the Canadian grand narrative. The curriculum and text material educators and learners are guided by ignore ongoing colonial violence towards Indigenous peoples and perpetuate the ideology of inevitable ‘peaceful’ interrelationships in national contexts. Learners develop identities in relation to land and how land is acquired. They come to understand themselves as part of a just nation in the particular sequence of Canadian Social Science and History teaching and learning. To go beyond simply adding content about Indigenous peoples in the classroom, educators and learners must adapt a decolonial approach to instead learn from Indigenous perspectives. Such a methodology would require the opening of a “third space” where the transmission of western curricular knowledge is interrupted. Educators and learners must create a space for problematizing the source itself and deconstruct the national grand narrative using inquiry, questioning and reflection, rather than repetition and regurgitation. This analysis reveals that particular placements of Indigenous peoples and settler Canadians in curriculum and classroom text material must be challenged by educators and learners to disrupt colonial narratives and to seek ongoing reconciliatory opportunities in and beyond the school walls.

Critical Reflection in the Marketing Curriculum

This article examines how we can encourage students to engage critically with marketing ideas and activities. Critical marketing studies are currently on the margins of the discipline, and the ideas and challenges to conventional marketing studies posed by critical scholars are rarely tested or implemented in the marketing classroom. Often these are perceived as too academic and elitist to be relevant to the modern business environment. Drawing largely from debates in the management education literature, this article discusses the problems and possibilities of introducing critical reflection into the marketing curriculum and describes some strategies for encouraging critique in the marketing classroom.

Leren Aansluiten na de Internationale Schakelklas (ISK) Een verkenning van de aansluiting van curriculum en leerlijnen Nederlands en rekenen tussen de ISK en MBO/Entree opleiding

Born, A.(2016). Leren Aansluiten na de Internationale Schakelklas (ISK) Een verkenning van de aansluiting van curriculum en leerlijnen Nederlands en rekenen tussen de ISK en MBO/Entree opleiding. Mei, 17, 2016, Heerlen, Nederland: Open Universiteit

Investigating high-achieving sixth grade students' erroneous answers on the angle concept in Yozgat

The angle concept is a multifaceted concept having static and dynamic definitions. The static definition of the angle refers to “the space between two rays” or “the intersection of two rays at the same end point” (Mitchelmore & White, 1998), whereas the dynamic definition of the angle concept highlights that the size of angle is the amount of rotation in direction (Fyhn, 2006). Since both definitions represent two diverse situations and have unique limitations (Henderson & Taimina, 2005), students may hold misconceptions about the angle concept. In this regard, the aim of this research was to explore high achievers’ knowledge regarding the definition of the angle concept as well as to investigate their erroneous answers on the angle concept.

104 grade 6 students drawn from four well-established elementary schools of Yozgat, Turkey were participated in this research. All participants were selected via a purposive sampling method and their mathematics grades were 4 or 5 out of 5, and. Data were collected through four questions prepared by considering the learning competencies set out in the grade 6 curriculum in Turkey and the findings of previous studies whose purposes were to identify students’ misconceptions of the angle concept. The findings were analyzed by two researchers, and their inter-rater agreement was calculated as 0.91, or almost perfect. Thereafter, coding discrepancies were resolved, and consensus was established.

The angle concept is a multifaceted concept having static and dynamic definitions.The static definition of the angle refers to “the space between two rays” or“the intersection of two rays at the same end point” (Mitchelmore & White, 1998), whereas the dynamicdefinition of the angle concept highlights that the size of angle is the amountof rotation in direction (Fyhn, 2006). Since both definitionsrepresent two diverse situations and have unique limitations (Henderson & Taimina, 2005), students may holdmisconceptions about the angle concept. In this regard, the aim of thisresearch was to explore high achievers’ knowledge regarding the definition ofthe angle concept as well as to investigate their erroneous answers on theangle concept.

A novel hybrid swarm based approach for curriculum based course timetabling problem

This work applies a hybrid approach in solving the university curriculum-based course timetabling problem as presented as part of the 2nd International Timetabling Competition 2007 (ITC2007). The core of the hybrid approach is based on an artificial bee colony algorithm. Past methods have applied artificial bee colony algorithms to university timetabling problems with high degrees of success. Nevertheless, there exist inefficiencies in the associated search abilities in term of exploration and exploitation. To improve the search abilities, this work introduces a hybrid approach entitled nelder-mead great deluge artificial bee colony algorithm (NMGD-ABC) where it combined additional positive elements of particle swarm optimization and great deluge algorithm. In addition, nelder-mead local search is incorporated into the great deluge algorithm to further enhance the performance of the resulting method. The proposed method is tested on curriculum-based course timetabling as presented in the ITC2007. Experimental results reveal that the proposed method is capable of producing competitive results as compared with the other approaches described in literature

Addressing conflict and tolerance through the curriculum

Political, religious and national divisions in Northern Ireland go back many hundreds of years so it is not surprising that the lack of a common national narrative has made the teaching of history in schools difficult. The fact that schools have largely been organized on a denominational basis has added to the challenge. When political violence broke out in the late 1960s many looked to schools to contribute to the promotion of reconciliation and the way history had been taught received significant critical attention. This chapter will outline the evolving nature of the history curriculum and review evidence on the impact of this curriculum on the historical understanding of students and young people. In addition, the chapter will briefly consider other ways in which students engage with historical issues through the teaching of citizenship, and wider family and community influences. Whereas the teaching of history in the past either was largely absent or often took on a partisan character, the development of a statutory curriculum in the 1990s helped promote a more dispassionate, skills-based approach which emphasized critical engagement with evidence and a multiperspectivity. While this represented a significant improvement on what had gone before, evaluation of the impact of this approach has highlighted the need for a consideration of the emotional impact of historical understanding and the need better to connect the lessons of history to contemporary society.

Upper Secondary Students’ Beliefs About Learning English as a Foreign Language : A contrast between the students’ beliefs and the Swedish curriculum

Learning English as a foreign language (EFL) entails different factors. Language learners use different strategies in order to make their language acquisition successful. Motivation and self-regulated learning are other factors that influence how successful the EFL learner is. This paper aims to analyze the beliefs of upper secondary students in a Swedish school about learning EFL, as well as how their beliefs relate to what is specified in the Swedish curriculum. An analysis of the differences between students’ beliefs and what is stated in the curriculum was done. A survey was conducted on a total of 54 students who were enrolled in the social sciences program. The results showed that students believed that motivation and self-regulated learning were important factors for a successful learning. For them, the language skill of reception is more important than production, which does not correspond with what it is stated in the national curriculum. First and second year students’ beliefs were similar in most of the cases, but not all of them.

Confluent Learning: Using a Design Approach to Develop Cognitive Abilities and Enhance Affective Capacities Through Change Management Curriculum

Purpose The aim of the study is to explore the role of confluent learning in supporting the development of change management knowledge, skills and attitudes and to inform the creation of a conceptual model based upon a priori and a posteriori knowledge gained from literature and the research. Design/methodology/approach The research adopts qualitative approach based on reflective inquiry methodology. There are two primary data sources, interviews with learners and the researchers’ reflective journals on learners’ opinions. Findings The confluent learning approach helped to stimulate affective states (e.g. interest and appreciation) to further reinforce cognitive gains (e.g. retention of knowledge) as a number of higher order thinking skills were further developed. The instructional design premised upon confluent learning enabled learners to further appreciate the complexities of change management. Research implications/ limitations The confluent learning approach offers another explanation to how learning takes place, contingent upon the use of a problem solving framework, instructional design and active learning in developing inter- and trans-disciplinary competencies. Practical implications This study not only explains how effective learning takes place but is also instructive to learning and teaching, and human resource development (HRD) professionals in curriculum design and the potential benefits of confluent learning. Social implications The adoption of a confluent learning approach helps to re-naturalise learning that appeals to learners affect. Originality/value This research is one of the few studies that provide an in-depth exploration of the use of confluent learning and how this approach co-develops cognitive abilities and affective capacity in the creation of a conceptual model.

Standardizing Minzu: A Content Analysis of the Depiction of Shaoshu Minzu in Three Chinese Elementary Curriculum Standards and Textbooks

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08

From global advocacy to local resistance. Benin's experience of competency-based school curriculum

In the vein of the "Education for All" campaign to promote access to education, a wave of curriculum revision along the competency-based approach has swept francophone countries in sub-Sahara Africa, thus Benin. The current study documents local actors' various interactions with the curricular reform in the course of its implementation. Secondary data supplemented with qualitative research techniques such as semi-structured interviews with teachers, and focus group discussions with parents enable to relate the patterns of change, the challenges and resistance to change. The actors spectrum generated illustrates advocacy on one hand and resistance on the other. Advocacy of local actors reflects the global optimistic discourse on education and resistance is favoured by disappointing policy outcomes as well as contextual constraints. (DIPF/Orig.)

Nationalist historiography, Nation-state making and Secondary School History: Curriculum Policy in Zimbabwe 1980-2010

This paper studies the curriculum policy trajectories that have characterized the teaching of secondary school History as a subject that is historically enmeshed in the politics of nation-state making in post-independence Zimbabwe. Through content analysis, the paper examines the ways in which the post-independence History syllabi, namely 2166 and 2167, have drawn from recent historiographies to frame both the aims and content of school History. The argument developed is that both syllabi have been deployed to serve the envisaged nation-state project; with Syllabus 2166 associated with the socialist nation-state project of the 1980s and 2167 with patriotic history since 2000. The paper concludes that such (mis)uses of school are not unique to Zimbabwe, but represent the political instrumentalization of school History that has become prevalent throughout the world.

The Voice of History and the Message of the National Curriculum: Recontextualising History to a Pedagogic Discourse for Upper Secondary VET

In the reform by the liberal-conservative government of Swedish upper secondary education in 2011, history was recognized as an important part of citizenship education and was introduced into the curriculum for vocational education and training (VET) tracks. Through the concepts of classification and framing, this article explores the process of constructing the history syllabus for VET. The data consist of archived material from the working group responsible for the history curriculum under the Swedish National Agency for Education. The analysis shows that there are competing discourses concerning the relative emphasis on competencies and skills and concerning the emphasis on contemporary and modern history. Although historians, history teachers and other agents are invited to respond to the content of the curriculum, the respondents have no influence on the knowledge structure of the curriculum, which is controlled by agents of the dominant educational ideology. From a critical perspective, this article suggests that the curriculum reflects the instrumental and neoconservative message of the reform through strong classification and framing and through the emphasis on general abilities and a contemporary history that has a more direct explanatory value to contemporary society.

Positioning Australia’s contemporary health and physical education curriculum to address poor physical activity participation rates by adolescent girls