Beginning in the early 1970s Trinidad and Tobago adopted a policyof putting all of its junior secondary schools “on shift”.The method allows for two schools conducted in the same…
Abstract
Beginning in the early 1970s Trinidad and Tobago adopted a policy of putting all of its junior secondary schools “on shift”. The method allows for two schools conducted in the same facility at different times of the day, and has the advantage of accessing a large number of students to secondary school. The method, however, has generated a number of problems and, as a result, has been earmarked for alteration. Current plans in Trinidad and Tobago include dismantling the shift system through construction of new, single shift, schools in new locations. It is argued that proposals to build new facilities in new locations as a means of resolving problems associated with the shift system may be more effectively accomplished through application of the method of location‐allocation modelling.
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The article investigates the language and rhetoric used by school inspectors as leverage in determining the direction for professional practice among teachers in colonial Trinidad…
Abstract
The article investigates the language and rhetoric used by school inspectors as leverage in determining the direction for professional practice among teachers in colonial Trinidad and Tobago. The approach is ethnohistorical, and the database comprises major evaluation reports of the inspectors in question in respect of one school over a 20‐year period. The research reveals that the rhetoric employed in reporting was a major vehicle in transmitting important messages about professional practice which local teachers could not afford to ignore. The practice adopted imparted distinctiveness to the schooling system at the time, and a significant observation in the process is that the rhetoric used was laced with the language of “performativity” spawned and justified within a technical rationalism constructed and put to work in the colonial period”. Technical rhetoric, the paper argues however, is not the type of medium required to do justice to education, generally recognized as a social practice enterprise.
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Establishment of large‐scale education projects in developing nations isoften problematical. After project approval it is sometimes difficultfor initiatives to “get off the…
Abstract
Establishment of large‐scale education projects in developing nations is often problematical. After project approval it is sometimes difficult for initiatives to “get off the ground”. Examines one type of difficulty, interorganizational behaviour patterns, which may beset project establishment. The analysis is contextual. It draws on the experiences of Research Country (pseudonym) as this developing nation struggles to initiate its Third Education Project, approved for implementation by the World Bank. The data, gleaned from Government files and project documents, are presented in a scenario; and two major concepts in organizational theory, organizational myths and organizational goals, provide the frame of reference against which the data are analysed. The results reveal that the behaviour of organizations involved can influence the decision‐making process in project establishment, and as a result can slow down the process of project implementation.
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This chapter examines the labor-empowerment potential of emerging taxi driver cooperative-union partnerships. Cooperative-union partnerships can adopt differing stances toward the…
Abstract
This chapter examines the labor-empowerment potential of emerging taxi driver cooperative-union partnerships. Cooperative-union partnerships can adopt differing stances toward the virtue of waging broad-based, class-conscious conflict against economic elites to win economic change, as opposed to the virtue of small-scale and practical steps to improve the immediate conditions of individual “job-conscious” workers. This case study utilizes a “class consciousness” versus “job consciousness” framework to examine a recent immigrant taxi driver union-cooperative partnership.
Case study of taxi driver organizing in Denver (CO), utilizing narrative inquiry, and survey and interviews with 69 drivers.
The US tradition of accommodational job consciousness continues to influence union and cooperative leaders. Among Denver’s taxi cooperatives, an emphasis on accommodational job consciousness, bereft of class perspectives, has undermined a narrative promoting worker solidarity or encouraging workers to engage in social justice campaigns for immigrant workers. The consequence has been to weaken the transformational potential of taxi driver activism.
Findings based on a single case study need to be confirmed through additional research.
Cooperative-union partnerships that adopt a class-conscious political approach, including leadership development opportunities, a “labor empowerment curriculum, and partnerships with broader social movements, are a promising alternative to narrowly tailored “job conscious” organizing strategies.
Immigrants are increasingly forming worker cooperatives, and the recent Denver taxi driver union-cooperative is one of the largest taxi cooperatives in the country. Current research on the labor empowerment consequences of these emerging immigrant cooperatives is sparse.
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Jill M. Gradwell, Jonathan Amidon, Danielle LaJudice and Mary Westlake-Douds
This lesson uses Steel Town to explore the making of steel and life in a steel mill town during the Great Depression. Moving through four centers, students explore resources such…
Abstract
This lesson uses Steel Town to explore the making of steel and life in a steel mill town during the Great Depression. Moving through four centers, students explore resources such as photographs, first-hand accounts, recipes, and songs from the era to learn what life was like at a steel mill, in a steelworker’s home and neighborhood, and throughout the town. Based on their analyses of the resources provided, students compare the benefits and drawbacks of technology to answer the ultimate question regarding steel production: “Is it worth it?” This lesson was created for use in a second or third grade classroom but can be adjusted for older students with the extensions provided.
Brian Hemmings and Russell Kay
This paper has two aims: to investigate the relationship of self‐efficacy beliefs in terms of research on publication output; and, to identify the relationship of self‐efficacy…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper has two aims: to investigate the relationship of self‐efficacy beliefs in terms of research on publication output; and, to identify the relationship of self‐efficacy beliefs about research to the publishing outputs of neophyte lecturers.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was utilised to obtain responses from lecturers working full‐time at two large Australian universities (n=343). The data from this sample were analysed using factor analysis, correlation, and multiple regression analysis. Data from two sub‐samples of neophyte lecturer (n1=47; n2=78) were then subjected to a multivariate analysis of variance.
Findings
Four research self‐efficacy subscales were derived from a factor analysis. These subscales were positively and significantly related and accounted for 46 percent of the total variance in total publications accrued. Significant differences were found between two groups of neophyte lecturer on nearly all items forming the respective research self‐efficacy subscales. And, group membership accounted for 45.4 percent of the total variance.
Originality/value
The findings have implications both theoretically and practically. Theoretically, the research self‐efficacy construct was shown to have four underlying dimensions and to be highly predictive of a measure of publication output. From a practical perspective, the items forming the research self‐efficacy subscales could be a useful tool to promote discussion about the tasks a lecturer may need to perform during an academic career. Further, the items could be ranked in terms of their discriminative capacity and, as a result, be used as the basis for researcher development and interventions to promote improved research self‐efficacy and therefore increased publication output.