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The human development and capability approach (HDCA) and its associated participatory method is receiving growing attention as a useful conceptual development for comparative international education. HDCA challenges the economism so prevalent in world development thinking and, instead, looks at development as a process of enhancing persons’ incrementally achieved substantive freedoms from deprivations. The centrality of the person replaces the centrality of income growth.

The application of HDCA to the study of the role of education that promotes social justice change is illustrated by using an empowerment-capability framework to the long-term study of the benefits of village schooling for rural girls in western China.

Using HDCA to identify influences on social change, we derive a much more nuanced and valuable multi-dimensional view of human development, which enables us to draw broad implications for more effective policy. National policies should use a multi-dimensional informational base including equality, sustainability, and non-market dimensions of well-being as well as market production.

Fertility aspirations shape family planning behavior of a couple. Desire to have certain number of children is linked with various micro- and macro-level factors such as individuals’ characteristics, sociocultural contexts and unconscious personal motivations. Fertility aspirations are an important component of fertility decision-making and a major predictor of childbearing. In India, Uttar Pradesh (UP) is the most populated state with historically high levels of fertility rates as compared to national average. This research is a qualitative exploration of the perspectives and practices of women with respect to their fertility aspirations and family planning behavior in an urban setting. A cross-sectional study was conducted between August 2017 and July 2018 among married women and men of the reproductive age group of 17–49 years using qualitative methods. The study was done in Pakbara, a Census Town (has a minimum population of 5,000) in the district of Moradabad, situated in western UP. It was found that along with personal motivations of having a quality life change in objective circumstances has led to changes in the fertility aspirations of the participants, particularly women. Increasing education, more mobility in public spaces, aspirations for a quality life, exposure to mass media and new job opportunities generate revision of parental aspirations. Couples, particularly from middle and upper-middle classes, limit their family size to attain upward social mobility. Couples from lower economic class have realized that rise of household income has not been commensurate with rise in prices. Thus, restricted childbearing is one way to cope with the situation.

Resistances of Nongovernmental Organizations (NGO) to the construction of gendered religious nationalism are addressed. The implications of such resistances and redefinitions of gendered religious nationalism for the women’s movement in India and transnationally are also assessed.

Semi-structured interviews with leaders and/or key informants of purposively selected organizations in the state of Gujarat serve as the primary data for the chapter. Using a grounded theory approach, the study is a qualitative analysis of the interviews and a reading of major published documents, unpublished reports, and internal reports of the NGOs that were made available.

The analysis discerns three main frames deployed by NGOs in resisting attempts by the state to construct nationalism: Communal Harmony (Not Communal Violence), “Endangered” Woman and Gender Mainstreaming. The “communal harmony, not communal violence” frame views women as an ungendered part of their communities. Although women are made central to the religious violence and struggle, they are viewed as passive persons without rights. This passive frame is the “endangered woman” frame. But women’s groups and NGOs addressing the violence have actively sought to emphasize the gender aspect of all formal and informal political activities. This is the “gender mainstreaming” frame. However, the mere visibility of women in political discourse should not be confused with the feminist framing of women’s rights or mainstreaming women’s issues.

The analysis brings an organizational agency perspective to consider resistance to the gendered basis of the violence perpetrated and embedded in nationalism.

This chapter examines the introduction of Electronic Voting Systems (EVS) at a UK university with the aim of promoting and supporting the student learning experience and moving from an ‘ad hoc’ and individual basis for the use of EVS at the local school level to offering support for using and developing their use on a wider institutional basis. Following discussion of the research into EVS adoption and use, the authors propose a framework to be used by those academics and managers in higher education institutions (HEI) who are interested in introducing specific technologies to support learning, such as the EVS. The framework incorporates a three-way focus on the development of a robust technology infrastructure, the provision of support and training for those using new technologies, placed within the context of sound change management principles and thus supported by the research into these areas. Previous studies in Europe, the United States and Canada into the use of EVS as, for example, in the REAP (Re-Engineering Assessment Practices) project (Nicol & Draper, 2009) have indicated that students are enthusiastic about their use in the lecture hall and seminar room and that the creative use of EVS by academics enhances their use to stimulate and support a number of classroom interactions. To date, however, there has been a lack of research studies on institutional deployment of EVS. This work is intended to outline the salient issues and start that conversation.

This paper presents the initial stage of a 3D finite element (FE) model of the electromagnetic field in the arc chamber of a current limiting miniature circuit breaker (MCB). The final objective of the model is to compute the magnetic forces on the arc, and predict the position of the arc at a series of discrete time steps. The trajectory of the arc calculated from the model will then be compared with experimental data recorded by a high speed arc imaging system (AIS) on a flexible test apparatus (FTA) designed to simulate the operation of a commercial MCB under laboratory conditions. By comparing the FE model of the arc behaviour with the actual arc images generated from the AIS an insight into the factors governing the motion of the arc can be gained. In particular the relative importance of the average flux density across the arc chamber is compared with the local flux density distribution at the arc roots. An understanding of the influence of the magnetic flux distribution can then be used to improve the magnetic design of the MCB to promote low immobility times and effective current limiting operation.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of Australian managers in relation to human rights issues and corporate responsibility inherent in their international business operations.

The paper reports findings from a qualitative research study; data were gathered from 70 face‐to‐face interviews with managers in the mining, textile and information technology industries who conducted international operations. The research method used was the critical incident technique, allowing interviewees to recall their observations and anecdotes in dealing with their perceived ethical dilemmas when operating offshore.

Human rights issues represented a serious dilemma for the Australian managers participating in this research. Findings in this study suggest that such issues, and resultant perceived dilemmas around their management, included child labour, hazardous working conditions, discrimination and exploitation of workers. The issues present self‐reported major dilemmas for managers as they challenge human rights concepts that underline their own ethical values in relation to the treatment of others in work environments. Respondents in this study report perceived limitations in dealing with cross‐cultural ethical issues, driven by economic and social reliance on such practices by their international business counterparts.

Understanding the nature of problems faced by Australian business managers in confronting perceived breaches of human rights may assist private and public sector organisations, both inside and outside of Australia, working in international environments. The paper reports insights and solutions offered by respondents encountering global human rights issues in the business context.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of simulation laboratory on continuing education engineering students’ academic performance.

The investigation consists of establishing the student learning levels then mapping the student learning levels (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation) through program outcomes with appropriate evaluation components. 270 continuing education students enrolled during six years were selected to be observed as part of this study. These students were divided into two subgroups, one with 135 students who were offered simulation lab (G2) and the other 135 students were not offered simulation lab (G1) in this investigation. Subsequently, a comparative analysis was carried out on these two groups to assess the student performance in multiple evaluation components with respect to student learning level and program outcome achievement.

It was identified that student performance in the application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation learning levels has improved for the group with simulation lab, and no change or minimal change was observed for the group without simulation lab. It was revealed that the simulation lab practice problems needs to be aligned with the theoretical concepts in the course to get a better performance from the students.

The study was conducted in one of the leading institutes with 270 students’ performance observed over a period of six years. It is the comprehensive work done on a complete program with data collated over a period of six years in multiple courses and multiple assessments.

This study aims to provide a detailed description of the nurses in the lead (NitL) programme for empowering community nurse leadership in implementing evidence.

The NitL programme is described using the template for intervention description and replication-checklist.

The NitL programme consists of two components. The first component is a systematic approach with implementation steps and tools to empower community nurses in implementing evidence targeted at encouraging functional activities of older adults offered via a Web-based eLearning programme. The second component is training to empower community nurses in enabling team members to change their practice, which focussed on motivational interviewing, influencing behaviour, dealing with resistance to change and coaching delivered as a combination of group training in practice and background theory via a web-based eLearning programme.

Further research is needed to evaluate the feasibility and effects of the NitL programme.

The NitL programme has been developed in cooperation with community nurses to meet their needs in practice and has the potential to develop leadership for the core tasks of community nurses.

The NitL programme has been developed to empower the leadership of community nurses in implementing evidence targeted at encouraging functional activities of older adults. The leadership role of community nurses is key for delivering high-quality care and implementing evidence within the community care setting for encouraging functional activities of older adults to preserve their independence.

This paper describes a model of “Learning to care” derived from a study exploring how care workers in care homes learn to care for people living with dementia. The “Learning to care” model is primarily informal in nature in which influences such as formalised training and organisational culture impact care outcomes indirectly rather than directly.

This study used a focused, critical ethnographic approach in two care homes in England resulting in 63 h of observation of care of people living with advanced dementia, 15 semi-structured interviews and 90 in-situ ethnographic interviews with care staff.

The findings reveal a three-level model of learning to care. At the level of day-to-day interactions is a mechanism for learning that is wholly informal and follows the maxim “What Works is What Matters”. Workers draw on resources and information within this process derived from their personal experiences, resident influences and care home cultural knowledge. Cultural knowledge is created through a worker’s interactions with colleagues and the training they receive, meaning that these organisational level influences affect care practice only indirectly via the “What Works is What Matters” mechanism.

This study makes an original contribution by explaining the nature of day-to-day informal learning processes as experienced by care workers and those living with dementia in care homes. In particular, it illuminates the specific mechanisms by which organisational culture has an effect on care practice and the limitations of formal training in influencing such practice.