Maurer, Markus: Skill Formation Regimes in South Asia, A Comparative Study on the Path-Dependent Development of Technical and Vocational Education and Training for the Garment Industry (Komparatistische Bibliothek; Bd. 21). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang 2011 [Rezension]

Rezension von: Maurer, Markus: Skill Formation Regimes in South Asia, A Comparative Study on the Path-Dependent Development of Technical and Vocational Education and Training for the Garment Industry (Komparatistische Bibliothek; Bd. 21), Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang 2011 (449 S.; ISBN Skill Formation Regi)

ASSESSING THE LEVEL OF TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION OF TITLE I TEACHERS IN A LARGE URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICT

By law, Title I schools employ teachers who are both competent in their subject knowledge and State certified. In addition, Title I teachers receive ongoing professional development in technology integration and are equipped with the latest innovative resources to integrate technology in the classroom. The aim is higher academic achievement and the effective use of technology in the classroom. The investment to implement technology in this large urban school district to improve student achievement has continued to increase. In order to infuse current and emerging technology throughout the curriculum, this school district needs to know where teachers have, and have not, integrated technology. Yet the level of how technology is integrated in Title I schools is unknown. This study used the Digital-Age Survey Levels of Teaching Innovation (LoTi) to assess 508 Title I teachers’ technology integration levels using three major initiatives purchased by Title I— the iPads program, the Chromebook initiative, and the interactive whiteboards program. The study used a quantitative approach. Descriptive statistics, regression analysis, and statistical correlations were used to examine the relationship between the level of technology integration and the following dependent variables: personal computer use (PCU), current instructional practices (CIP), and levels of teaching innovation (LoTi). With this information, budgetary decisions and professional development can be tailored to the meet the technology implementation needs of this district. The result of this study determined a significant relationship between the level of teaching innovation, personal computer use, and current instructional practices with teachers who teach with iPad, Chromebook, and/or interactive whiteboard. There was an increase in LoTi, PCU, and CIP scores with increasing years of experience of Title I teachers. There was also a significant relationship between teachers with 20 years or more teaching experience and their LoTi score.

The age of studies and reports: selected elements concerning the background of encounters defining the power of education

In the present paper, we discuss the time before the “age of reports”. Besides the Coleman Report in the period of Coleman, the Lady Plowden Report also appeared, while there were important studies in France (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1964; Peyre, 1959) and studies that inaugurated comprehensive education in Nordic countries. We focus on the period after the World War II, which was marked by rising economic nationalism, on the one hand, and by the second wave of mass education, on the other, bearing the promise of more equality and a reduction of several social inequalities, both supposed to be ensured by school. It was a period of great expectations related to the power of education and the rise of educational meritocracy. On this background, in the second part of the paper, the authors attempt to explore the phenomenon of the aforementioned reports, which significantly questioned the power of education and, at the same time, enabled the formation of evidence-based education policies. In this part of the paper, the central place is devoted to the case of socialist Yugoslavia/Slovenia and its striving for more equality and equity through education. Through the socialist ideology of more education for all, socialist Yugoslavia, with its exaggerated stress on the unified school and its overemphasised belief in simple equality, overstepped the line between relying on comprehensive education as an important mechanism for increasing the possibility of more equal and just education, on the one hand, and the myth of the almighty unified school capable of eradicating social inequalities, especially class inequalities, on the other. With this radical approach to the reduction of inequalities, socialist policy in the then Yugoslavia paradoxically reduced the opportunity for greater equality, and even more so for more equitable education. (DIPF/Orig.)

The sources of inequity in the education system of Serbia and how to combat them

The concept of equal opportunity for all students is deeply embedded in the Serbian constitution and in education laws. On that level, there is no doubt that everyone is ensured an opportunity to receive quality education. Many measures in education policy have been created specifically to achieve this objective and make the system fair and inclusive. The Coleman Report was linked to a wave of optimism that certain educational measures would help in achieving these noble goals. This aim is a high priority in education in a democratic country, and due to its importance needs to be re-examined. Thus, the present research examines the equity of students in the Serbian education system, detecting areas on all educational levels that could be (or already are) systemic sources of inequity (e.g., criteria for preschool institution enrolment, the system of student awards, rationalisation of the school network, the concept of entrance exams to secondary school or university, etc.). A number of measures have already been taken in the system specifically to deal with inequity (e.g., the Preschool Preparatory Programme, dropout measures, inclusion, scholarships, etc.). The effects of these measures in particular are analysed in the present work. In addition to an analysis of the systemic sources of inequity in the Serbian education system, the article also makes recommendations for their overcoming. (DIPF/Orig.)

"Natural Enemies" or Intentional Allies? Teachers' & Parents' Perspectives on Middle School Boys of Color

This study examined the perspectives and “shared knowledge” of parents and teachers of boys of color. The following overarching research question guided this study: “What do parents and teachers want each other to know about their middle school son or student of color regarding academics, engagement, and behavior?” Additionally, it explored the challenges and opportunities for shared knowledge and understanding of their (respective) son’s’ or students’ academics and engagement. The methodology was qualitative in nature and the intent in conducting this case study was to describe, interpret, and explain the “shared knowledge” between these stakeholders at a predominantly minority middle school. A sample of seven parents and seven teachers from one school in a mid-Atlantic state participated in interviews and focus groups. Results indicated that parents and teachers of boys of color viewed each other as “intentional allies.” Results further showed that parents and teachers were aware of the challenges faced by boys of color in and out of school. That awareness was reflected in strategies that both groups employed to support, prepare, and protect their son/students. Lastly, the study found that teachers received no formal training in building parent-teacher partnerships, but gathered experimental knowledge on how to build those relationships. These findings have implications for teacher education programs, schools, parents, and teachers.

The background impact in HEI math lectures: an experience in math in the 1st year of Accounting and Management Degree

It is a fact, and far from being a new one, that students have been entering Higher Education courses with many different backgrounds in terms of secondary school programs they attended. The impact of these basic skills is a general and worldwide challenge, fundamentally when facing some specific “constructive” subjects like foreign languages and Mathematics. Working with students with an extensive variety of Math qualifications is an outrageous challenge when they enter an advanced Math course, leading to an almost generalized expectations’ failure - from students enrolled in course and from their teachers, who feel powerless in trying to monitor knowledge construction from completely different “starting points”. If teachers’ "haste" is average, more than half of the students do not “go along” and give up, even before experiencing any kind of evaluation procedure. On the contrary, if the “speed” is too low, others are discouraged (feeling not progressing at all) and the teacher runs the risk of not meeting the minimum objectives (general and specific) of its course, which may have a negative impact on students’ future training development. Failure in Mathematics, despite being a recurrent and global issue, does not have any “magical solution”, however, in general, teachers in this area seem untiring, searching, investigating, trying and implementing new and old “recipes” to tackle and demystify this subject. In this article we describe a project developed in a Math course, with the first year students from an Accounting and Management bachelor degree, and its outcomes since it was brought to practice, revealing its impact in students’ success, from approval to dropout rates, in this course. We will shortly describe students’ differentiated Math backgrounds, their results in a pre-assessment analysis and how we try to deal with these differences and level them up, having in mind the same “finish line”. One should never forget that all these students where officially accepted in higher education institutions, so they are ones’ reality, the reality of institutions whose name one should value and strive to defend.

Use of Products and Systems for Scientific and Technical College Education and Development for Industrial

Have been less than thirty years since a group of graduate students and computer scientists working on a federal contract performed the first successful connection between two computers located at remote sites. This group known as the NWG Network Working Group, comprised of highly creative geniuses who as soon as they began meeting started talking about things like intellectual graphics, cooperating processes, automation questions, email, and many other interesting possibilities 1 . In 1968, the group's task was to design NWG's first computer network, in October 1969, the first data exchange occurred and by the end of that year a network of four computers was in operation. Since the invention of the telephone in 1876 no other technology has revolutionized the field of communications over the computer network. The number of people who have made great contributions to the creation and development of the Internet are many, the computer network a much more complex than the phone is the result of people of many nationalities and cultures. However, remember that some years later in 19732 two computer scientists Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerft created a more sophisticated communication program called Transmission Control Protocol - Internet Protocol TCP / IP which is still in force in the Internet today.

Results of a mindfulness-based social-emotional learning program on portuguese elementary students and teachers: a quasi-experimental study

Recently, mindfulness-based social-emotional learning (SEL) approaches have been taught to children in some schools. Due to deficient methodological consistency observed in most studies, their results should be interpreted with caution. Moreover, research on how mindfulness-based SEL approaches benefit teachers is scarce, and the majority of these studies have been conducted in English-speaking countries; therefore, it is uncertain whether these approaches are suited to other cultural backgrounds. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of the MindUp curriculum, an SEL program through mindfulness practice for Portuguese students and teachers. Participants included 454 3rd and 4th grade students and 20 teachers from state schools. A quasiexperimental (pre- and post-test) study compared outcomes for an experimental group with a waitlist control group. Data were collected from teachers and children through self-report measures. Results showed that over 50 % of the children who participated in the MindUp program scored above the control group mean in their ability to regulate emotions, to experience more positive affect, and to be more self-compassionate, and over 50 % scored lower in negative affect. In the group of teachers, over 80 % scored above the control group mean in observing, in personal accomplishment, and in self-kindness. Our results contribute to the recent research on the potential added value of mindfulness practices to a SEL program and strengthen the importance for teachers and students of adding to the academic curriculum a SEL program through mindfulness practices.

Drivers of revenues and expenses in higher-education non-profit institutions

Double Degree

The murky waters of neoliberal marketization and commodification on the education of adults in the United States

We approach marketization and commodification of adult education from multiple lenses including our personal narratives and neoliberalism juxtaposed against the educational philosophy of the Progressive Period. We argue that adult education occurs in many arenas including the public spaces found in social movements, community-based organizations, and government sponsored programs designed to engage and give voice to all citizens toward building a stronger civil society. We conclude that only when adult education is viewed from the university lens, where it focuses on the individual and not the public good, does it succumb to neoliberal forces. (DIPF/Orig.)

Work engagement among school directors and teachers' behavior at work

Using data from a representative sample of public primary schools in Madagascar, this paper analyzes engagement at work among school directors and investigates the impact of school heads' supervisory roles on teachers' behavior at work. The results show clear signs of weak management within public primary schools. We find that school heads' engagement at work is positively associated with their employment conditions, job satisfaction, and overall working environment. The results also indicate that principals' management styles have a positive effect on teachers’ commitment at work, but no significant impact on absenteeism.