The influence of an in-service programme on primary teachers conceptions about practical work

The purpose of this study was to investigate how an in-service programme influenced primary teachers’ conceptions about practical work. Ten elementary teachers participated in a Portuguese city in an one-year professional development programme, which aimed to promote the use of practical activities in classroom. Semi-structured interviews and classroom observations were both used to examine changes in teachers’ conceptions about science teaching and in their classroom pratices. Data also included written artefacts, such as teachers’ written reflections, lesson plans, activity sheets, assessment items and student work samples. Based on the analysis of the data, the changes in teachers’ conceptions were organized into four categories: student and learning, teacher and teaching, science teaching, and teaching context. Throughout their participation in the programme, teachers pointed out several constraints related to planning and implementing practical activities. Results indicate that most teachers were able to overcome their initial difficulties and progressively gained more confidence in using student-centered pratices. However, one year after the end of the programme, teachers reported that their actual practices did not changed significantly, particularly with regard to inquiry-based practical and collaborative activities, which remained absent or rare. Implications for professional development and further research are discussed.

'Institutional Shopping' for Natural Resource Management in a Protected Area and Indigenous Territory in the Bolivian Amazon.

Focusing on an overlapping protected area and indigenous territory in the Bolivian Amazon, this article discusses how indigenous people continue to negotiate access to natural resources. Using the theoretical framework of New Institutionalism, ethnographic data from participatory observations, and interviews with Takana indigenous resource users and park management staff, we identified four phases of institutional change. We argue that under the current institutionally pluralistic setting in the overlapping area, indigenous users apply “institutional shopping” to choose, according to their power and knowledge, the most advantageous institutional framework in a situation. Indigenous users strategically employed arguments of conservation, indigeneity, or long-term occupation to legitimize their claims based on the chosen institution. Our results highlight the importance of ideologies and bargaining power in shaping the interaction of individuals and institutions. As a potential application of our research to practice, we suggest that rather than seeing institutional pluralism solely as a threat to successful resource management, the strengths of different frameworks may be combined to build robust institutions from the bottom up that are adapted to the local context. This requires taking into account local informal institutions, such as cultural values and beliefs, and integrating them with conservation priorities through cross-cultural participatory planning.

The use of automated data management in the institutional delivery of student financial aid.

Includes bibliographical references.

Performance management in the District of Columbia : a progress report : hearing before the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, second session, May 9, 2000.

Shipping list no.: 2001-0042-P.

Household engineering : scientific management in the home /

Includes samples of menus, suggestions for planning meals, grocery shopping, ways of saving time and money, description of household appliances, etc.

The modern housewife, or, Ménagère : comprising nearly one thousand receipts, for the economic and judicious preparation of every meal of the day : with those of the nursery and sick room, and minute directions for family management in all its branches : illustrated with engravings /

Includes sections on: comforts for invalids, removes, entrees, dishes with the remains of lamb, garniture for omlettes, beverages for evening parties.

Cue extinction : in-service training curriculum /

"Printed 1993"--T.p. verso.

Records management in the Department of Housing and Urban Development /

"January 1997."

Assessing the progress of performance management in the District of Columbia : hearing before the Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia Subcommittee of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, second session, October 3, 2000.

Shipping list no.: 2001-0130-P.

In-service evaluation of the BRAKEMASTER and C-A-T crash cushions. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C.

Trespass handbook : for the use and guidance of employees of the Bureau of Land Management in the control of trespass on the public lands.

"April 1950."

Current application and successful implementation of local agency pavement management in the United States /

"Publication no. FHWA-SA-97-057"--Cover.