Carol Benson, Kara D. Brown and Bridget Goodman
This chapter reviews and synthesizes three major strands of recent research, alongside discipline-specific research design, from scholars of Language Issues in Comparative and…
Abstract
This chapter reviews and synthesizes three major strands of recent research, alongside discipline-specific research design, from scholars of Language Issues in Comparative and International Education. The first strand is mixed methods research on the policy and practice of L1-based multilingual education programs, and their contribution to raising educational quality and addressing equity and inclusiveness worldwide. The second strand is qualitative, community-based research of educational programs aimed toward revitalization of minoritized, indigenous, and/or endangered languages. The third strand is empirical and theoretical research that seeks to document, contest, and reconceptualize the dynamics among dominant and non-dominant languages within and between international contexts. The authors explore points of synergy between studies, examine publication in the field from a meta-perspective, and suggest encouraging directions of future research, while highlighting the value of non-dominant languages as resources for education and life.
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Carol Benson, Kara D. Brown and Bridget Goodman
This essay provides an overview of key contemporary issues researched by scholars of Language Issues in Comparative and International Education. The authors present this…
Abstract
This essay provides an overview of key contemporary issues researched by scholars of Language Issues in Comparative and International Education. The authors present this scholarship around three main themes: L1-based multilingual education; language revitalization and education; and the power dynamics between dominant and non-dominant languages in educational settings. Research in all three themes challenges the view of monolingualism as the norm and invites the view that all languages are resources. These perspectives are relevant to the goals of educational development, particularly to equitable access to quality schooling. Recent research examines some stakeholders’ resistance to supporting and sustaining local languages and cultural practices. While language-in-education policy change may be slow, there are promising directions in research on how educators and communities exercise agency in transforming educational institutions to support plurilingualism and intercultural understandings. Scholars highlight the ideological, pedagogical, and policy-level supports needed for sustainable development of multiple languages, literacies and learning across contexts.
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Charlotte Benson and Edward J. Clay
Two worldwide trends in recent decades are commonly noted and sometimes linked in discussing disasters. First, the reported global cost of natural disasters has risen…
Abstract
Two worldwide trends in recent decades are commonly noted and sometimes linked in discussing disasters. First, the reported global cost of natural disasters has risen significantly, with a 14-fold increase between the 1950s and 1990s (Munich Re, 1999). During the 1990s, major natural catastrophes are reported to have resulted in economic losses averaging an estimated US$ 54 billion per annum (in 1999 prices) (ibid). Record losses of some US$ 198 billion were recorded in 1995, the year of the Kobe earthquake – equivalent to 0.7 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) (ibid).
Kabini Sanga and Martyn Reynolds
This chapter offers a selective review of the emerging Indigenous Pacific educational research from 2000 to 2018. The Pacific region is home to many and various cultural groups…
Abstract
This chapter offers a selective review of the emerging Indigenous Pacific educational research from 2000 to 2018. The Pacific region is home to many and various cultural groups, and this review is an opportunity to celebrate the consequent diversity of thought about education. Common threads are used to weave this diversity into a set of coherent regional patterns. Such threads include the regional value to educational research of local metaphor, and an emphasis on relationality or the state of being related as a cornerstone of education, both in research and as practice. The relationship between indigenous educational thought and formal education in indigenous contexts is also addressed. The review pays attention to educational research centered in home islands and that which focuses on the education of those from Pacific Islands in settler societies since connections across the ocean are strong. Because of the recent history of the region, developments are fast paced and ongoing, and this chapter concludes with a sketch of research at the frontier. Set within the context of an area study, the chapter concludes by suggesting what challenges the region has to offer in terms of re-thinking the field of international and comparative education.
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Jayden R. Hunter, Brett A. Gordon, Stephen R. Bird and Amanda C. Benson
Workplace exercise programmes have been shown to increase employee participation in physical activities and improve health and fitness in the short-term. However, the limited…
Abstract
Purpose
Workplace exercise programmes have been shown to increase employee participation in physical activities and improve health and fitness in the short-term. However, the limited breadth of employee engagement across organisations combined with declining exercise adherence within individual studies indicates a need for better-informed programmes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate relationships between employee moderate-vigorous physical activity (exercise) participation and their perceived barriers and facilitators to engagement in onsite exercise, to inform the design and implementation of future workplace exercise interventions.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey identified employee demographics, exercise (International Physical Activity Questionnaire), perceived barriers (Corporate Exercise Barriers Scale) and facilitators to exercise at an Australian university.
Findings
Of the 252 full-time employees who responded, most reported meeting (43.7 per cent) or exceeding (42.9 per cent) exercise guidelines over the previous week. A lack of time or reduced motivation (p<0.001), exercise attitude (p<0.05), internal (p<0.01) and external (p<0.01) barriers towards workplace exercise participation were all associated with failure to attain government-recommended volumes of weekly exercise. Personal training (particularly for insufficiently active employees) and group exercise classes were identified as potential exercise facilitators. Walking, gym (fitness centre), swimming and cycling were identified as the preferred modes of exercise training.
Practical implications
Employees not meeting recommended volumes of exercise might require additional support such as individualised gym and cycling programmes with personal supervision to overcome reported exercise barriers to improve exercise participation, health and fitness.
Originality/value
This study identifies specific barriers and facilitators to workplace exercise participation perceived by university employees. These findings can be used to inform the design and implementation of workplace exercise programmes aiming to achieve wider workplace engagement and greater exercise adherence, particularly of less active employees.
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CESAR M. SABULAO and G. ALAN HICKROD
Economic efficiency of public school districts was explored by utilization of the concept of economies and dis‐economies of scale. An optimum size relative to costs was discovered…
Abstract
Economic efficiency of public school districts was explored by utilization of the concept of economies and dis‐economies of scale. An optimum size relative to costs was discovered by analyzing the data with curvilinear least squares regression and also with the differential calculus. The sample was taken from elementary, high school, and K–12 (unit) districts in the state of Illinois, U.S.A. Suggestions for further research on the general notion of optimum size of school districts are presented.
– The purpose of this paper is to survey the treatment of relationships, relationship expressions and the ways in which they manifest themselves in image descriptions.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to survey the treatment of relationships, relationship expressions and the ways in which they manifest themselves in image descriptions.
Design/methodology/approach
The term “relationship” is construed in the broadest possible way to include spatial relationships (“to the right of”), temporal (“in 1936,” “at noon”), meronymic (“part of”), and attributive (“has color,” “has dimension”). The intentions of these vaguely delimited categories with image information, image creation, and description in libraries and archives is complex and in need of explanation.
Findings
The review brings into question many generally held beliefs about the relationship problem such as the belief that the semantics of relationships are somehow embedded in the relationship term itself and that image search and retrieval solutions can be found through refinement of word-matching systems.
Originality/value
This review has no hope of systematically examining all evidence in all disciplines pertaining to this topic. It instead focusses on a general description of a theoretical treatment in Library and Information Science.
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Dae Yong Jeong and John Lawler
This paper proposes a new theoretical framework to explain enterprise unionism and conducts the first systematic comparative study of union structure in nine Asian countries. Our…
Abstract
This paper proposes a new theoretical framework to explain enterprise unionism and conducts the first systematic comparative study of union structure in nine Asian countries. Our framework emphasizes political dynamics and the role of the state in labor relations and argues that the initial period of the collective bargaining era constituted a critical juncture (state labor policy) that occurred in distinctive ways in different countries and that these differences played a central role in shaping the different union structures in the following decades. The nine countries are mainly divided into three groups, depending on the type of state labor policy: enforcement of enterprise unionism; centralization/laissez-faire (non-enterprise unionism); and dual unionism/gradual transition (middle-ground). Governmental data were used for the study. A clear correspondence between state labor policy and union structure in each of these groups was found. We believe that our framework significantly enhances our understanding of the Asian cases. Future research should explore the validity of the proposed framework through comparative studies of Latin American cases where enterprise unions have also been observed.
The word polyelectrolytes bobbed up ubiquitously at Earls Court during the Convention sessions held from March 30 to April 2. The thread‐like nature of the ionised molecules of…
Abstract
The word polyelectrolytes bobbed up ubiquitously at Earls Court during the Convention sessions held from March 30 to April 2. The thread‐like nature of the ionised molecules of these materials, and their other principal advantage of water‐solubility, are finding more and more uses in clarifying, sedimenting, thickening, sludge filtration and dewatering operations. Polyacrylamides of MW 105–5 X 106 are among the more recent types used for controlling mud and silt in cooling systems, the dosage being 0.05–200 p.p.m.
This study uses a comprehensive literature review and analysis of recent research, policy documents and program evaluations related to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program…
Abstract
Purpose
This study uses a comprehensive literature review and analysis of recent research, policy documents and program evaluations related to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) and policy, systems and environmental (PSE) strategies. Key sources include peer-reviewed articles, the 2025 SNAP-Ed Plan Guidance and case studies of successful PSE interventions. The Social-Ecological Model serves as a framework to organize and analyze the multilevel impacts of PSE interventions. The method involves identifying relevant information, synthesizing key themes and patterns and critically examining the potential impact of PSE strategies on nutrition security and health equity.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper examines the evolution of the SNAP-Ed from direct nutrition education to a comprehensive approach integrating PSE change strategies. It aims to analyze the rationale, implementation and potential impact of PSE approaches in SNAP-Ed on nutrition security and health equity in the USA. The study explores how these strategies address social determinants of health, promote sustainable population-level changes in nutrition environments, and their capacity to reduce health disparities in low-income communities. It seeks to identify challenges, opportunities and future research directions in implementing PSE strategies within SNAP-Ed.
Findings
The review reveals that PSE strategies in SNAP-Ed show promise in creating sustainable, population-level changes in nutrition environments and health outcomes. Successful examples, such as healthy corner store initiatives and workplace wellness programs, demonstrate the potential of PSE approaches to improve access to healthy food options and physical activity opportunities. The integration of PSE strategies has enhanced SNAP-Ed’s capacity to address social determinants of health and promote health equity. However, challenges including resource constraints, political opposition and the need for cross-sector collaboration persist. The effectiveness of PSE interventions relies heavily on community engagement, partnerships and supportive policies.
Practical implications
The findings underscore the importance of adopting comprehensive, multilevel approaches in nutrition education and obesity prevention programs. For SNAP-Ed implementers, this implies a need to develop expertise in PSE strategies, foster cross-sector partnerships and engage communities in intervention design and implementation. Policymakers should consider increasing support and resources for PSE approaches within SNAP-Ed and similar programs. Public health practitioners can use these insights to design more effective, equitable interventions that address root causes of nutrition insecurity. The study also highlights the need for improved evaluation methods to assess the long-term impact of PSE strategies on population health outcomes.
Social implications
This study highlights the importance of addressing social determinants of health, such as poverty and access to healthy food options, to promote equitable health outcomes. It underscores the potential of community-driven, multilevel interventions in building a more just and equitable food system accessible to all.
Originality/value
This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the shift toward PSE strategies in SNAP-Ed, offering valuable insights into the program’s evolution and its potential to address complex public health challenges. By examining both successes and challenges, it contributes to the growing body of evidence on the effectiveness of multilevel interventions in promoting nutrition security and health equity. The study’s emphasis on the role of community engagement and partnerships in PSE implementation offers practical guidance for program planners and policymakers.