The aim of the paper is to locate and understand VET provision for young people in England and Scotland as a set of policies and practices that can also be located within a…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the paper is to locate and understand VET provision for young people in England and Scotland as a set of policies and practices that can also be located within a broader Europe‐wide discourse.
Design/methodology/approach
The research drew upon findings from a longitudinal study that comprised interviews with young people who were in JWT at the outset of the research. The work was conducted in the South West of England in 2007 and 2008 and comprised in‐depth interviews with 13 young people, supported with 155 telephone interviews, a focus group session with three young people, and a participative research seminar with 25 key stakeholders.
Findings
The research showed that although there are nuanced differences in approach, the fundamental basis of the policy rhetorics is the same. Whilst the issues and questions in this paper have been informed by the position in the UK and in particular England, it would seem that the same or similar issues and concerns have become part of the mainstream discourse, certainly within the OECD countries and beyond.
Research limitations/implications
The methodology brings a narrative approach (focused upon individual young people), to bear upon a set of policy discourses within the education and skills agenda. Whilst the approach of the paper does not allow for generalisation, it does highlight the problem with a policy focus that fails to take account of what those most affected by the policies actually value and believe.
Originality/value
This paper draws together policy narratives and the experiences of young people.
Details
Keywords
To describe and evaluate the collection of the library of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC).
Abstract
Purpose
To describe and evaluate the collection of the library of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC).
Design/methodology/approach
The relevant Association of College and Research Libraries’ (ACRL) Standard for College Libraries of 1986 (Standard 2) is used to assess the quality of the Library collection.
Findings
The library of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC) achieves level B of the ACRL standard.
Research limitations/implications
The paper takes one very particular, widely respected quantitative tool for collection evaluation and uses it “as is” – the paper thus accepts and applies the theoretical framework on which the tool is based, but applies it in a relatively unfamiliar library setting.
Practical implications
The description of the collection is of value to those needing to locate materials relating to Islamic culture and civilization; the implementation of the ACRL methodology is a useful demonstration of a practical tool for collection management and assessment.
Originality/value
It is important for any educational institution to establish an effective library collection, one that is able to support the teaching and learning activities of the institution. To ensure that the library achieves its objectives, evaluation of the library collection needs to be done. This paper applies an internationally accepted standard for collection evaluation to a particular library, giving a model for other libraries to follow, especially libraries in the developing world. It is important to demonstrate that libraries in the developing world can aspire to and attain standards designed for collections in developed countries: this paper achieves that goal.
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Keywords
Households are exposed to a wide array of risks, characterized by a known or unknown probability distribution of events. Disasters are one of these risks at the extreme end…
Abstract
Households are exposed to a wide array of risks, characterized by a known or unknown probability distribution of events. Disasters are one of these risks at the extreme end. Understanding the nature of these risks is critical to recommending appropriate mitigation measures. A household’s resilience in resisting the negative outcomes of these risky events is indicative of its level of vulnerability. Vulnerability has emerged as the most critical concept in disaster studies, with several attempts at defining, measuring, indexing and modeling it. The paper presents the concept and meanings of risk and vulnerability as they have evolved in different disciplines. Building on these basic concepts, the paper suggests that assets are the key to reducing risk and vulnerability. Households resist and cope with adverse consequences of disasters and other risks through the assets that they can mobilize in face of shocks. Asustainable strategy for disaster reduction must therefore focus on asset‐building. There could be different types of assets, and their selection and application for disaster risk management is necessarily a contextual exercise. The mix of asset‐building strategies could vary from one community to another, depending upon households’ asset profile. The paper addresses the dynamics of assets‐risk interaction, thus focusing on the role of assets in risk management.
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It has been said that a week in politics is a very long time, and equally I suggest that with the changes and developments that take place in online interactive searching, a week…
Abstract
It has been said that a week in politics is a very long time, and equally I suggest that with the changes and developments that take place in online interactive searching, a week in online is also a very long time.
The purpose of this paper is to explain why Singapore has succeeded in curbing the problem of police corruption and to identify the six lessons which other Asian countries can…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explain why Singapore has succeeded in curbing the problem of police corruption and to identify the six lessons which other Asian countries can learn from Singapore's experience.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyzes the causes of police corruption in Singapore during the British colonial period and describes the measures adopted by the People's Action Party government after assuming office in June 1959 to curb police corruption. The effectiveness of these measures is assessed by referring to Singapore's perceived extent of corruption according to three international indicators and the reported cases of police corruption from 1965 to 2011.
Findings
The Singapore Police Force has succeeded in minimizing police corruption by improving salaries and working conditions, cooperating with the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, enhancing its recruitment and selection procedures, providing training and values education for its members, and adopting administrative measures to reduce the opportunities for corruption. Other Asian countries afflicted with rampant police corruption can learn six lessons from Singapore's success.
Originality/value
This paper will be of interest to those policy makers, scholars, and anti-corruption practitioners, who are interested in learning how Singapore has succeeded in curbing police corruption.
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This article employs a system analytic framework to categorize the available research literature on the politics of education in order to explain the inter‐relationship of private…
Abstract
This article employs a system analytic framework to categorize the available research literature on the politics of education in order to explain the inter‐relationship of private and public interests and of different levels in primary and secondary American schools. The objectives are several: to explain and develop the analytical framework of David Easton; to illustrate its heuristic utility by categorizing empirically‐based research within the components of that framework, and to suggest and encourage future research directions in the subject. Education has escaped application of traditional policy analysis in America because educators have convinced scholars and laymen that they are “non‐political,” a label which even most political scientists have accepted without challenge. However, during the 1960s, a few scholars in education and political science began to apply political analytical methods to public school conflict. This research has begun to change perceptions of education and to provide a beginning set of research projects whose data support tentative generalization about the policy‐making process and the total system of public schools. This orientation is bound to increase because of increasing national government intervention in local schools, both through integration and financial policies. These have provoked growing conflict locally over the proper direction of school policies. In this article, we see how such stress is transmitted in the form of “demands” and “supports” into the “political system”, that persistent social mechanism known in all societies in different forms provides an “authoritative allocation of values and resources”. The political system, in this case public school bodies, “converts” such “inputs” into “outputs” of public policy, which in their administration create outcomes which later cause a “feedback” into the political system as the material for new policy demands. For each component of this Eastonian system, this article examines relevant research, providing an extensive annotated bibliography. From this review, it is possible to suggest lines of needed research.