Suchergebnisse

This research note makes the case that if the US and its international allies are to successfully use 'Local Defence Forces' (LDF) to overcome counterinsurgency constraints in Afghanistan, current initiatives need to be significantly modified. A key issue is that the Village Stability Operations/Afghan Local Police (VSO/ALP) LDF program is unlikely to be effective in filling security gaps in rural Afghanistan because, much rhetoric to the contrary, it is essentially focused on militarily combating the insurgency rather than fully developing local communities as counterinsurgency resources by winning their support for the Afghan central government. The CIA's Village Defense Program in South Vietnam, a counterinsurgency program that has thus far received cursory attention in current LDF literature, provides a useful counterpoint. Through a comparison of the VDP and VSO/ALP operational patterns, implications are drawn for current and future US counterinsurgency practice employing LDF components. Adapted from the source document.

Although greater numbers of historically disadvantaged students have been registering at South African universities since the late 1980s, their rate of completion is considerably lower compared to other students. Universities are under increasing pressure to democratise in order to address racial-ethnic gaps in graduation rates and to take cognisance of the diverse needs of students from a range of cultural and social backgrounds, varying levels of education and academic potential. A solution to this problem adopted by universities world-wide is the establishment of learning communities, where students could receive additional support from the institutions where they are registered to ensure the successful completion of their degree. A key feature of most learning communities is their interdisciplinary and interactive approach to education in which they incorporate active and collaborative learning activities to engage students more effectively. When considering the type of education that is offered by archives and museums, namely a combination of active learning and personal meaning making, museums seem to be ideally placed to assist learning communities in integrating diverse academic and social activities into a meaningful whole in order to convert these experiences into authentic learning. This article will demonstrate, as a case study, how specifically the University of Pretoria Archives are used for orientation purposes in a degree programme by the Faculty of Engineering to its learning community, in order to help students acquire the additional background knowledge that may not have been available to them at school, and to develop a conceptual understanding of key concepts in their discipline which would enable them to complete their degrees successfully. ; http://www.journals.co.za/content/journal/samab ; am2017 ; Historical and Heritage Studies

Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Acronyms and abbreviations -- Introduction -- E-development as a holistic vision -- The eSri Lanka program -- Learning from eSri Lanka -- Developing e-leadership institutions -- An institutional innovation in e-leadership: the ICT Agency of Sri lanka -- The institutional model -- Evolution of the authorizing environment and governance model -- Mandate -- Paths to sustainability -- Core competencies -- Partnerships -- A learning organization -- Role of aid agencies -- Lessons and conclusions -- Annex 2.1 The ICT agency in search of a corporate identity -- Annex 2.2 The ICT policy framework & the organizational structure of the ICT agency -- Annex 2.3 Internal and external risks facing the ICT agency at inception -- Managing results -- Objectives of monitoring and evaluation for eSri Lanka -- Framework for monitoring and evaluation -- Arrangements for monitoring and evaluation -- Emerging lessons -- Annex 3.1 Results framework for monitoring and evaluation -- Outcome indicator -- ICT human resource development and industry promotion -- Transforming government -- Best practices and options for planning and implementing e-government -- Approaches to planning e-government -- Implementation of e-government: four phases -- Leadership, partnership, and change management -- Providing leadership, building partnerships -- Conclusions and implications -- Readiness for e-government: a historical perspective -- History of e-government in Sri Lanka -- Analysis of the situation -- Findings and recommendations -- A vision of e-government -- Motivations and aspirations -- Challenges to realizing the vision -- Lessons learned: a postscript -- A strategy for e-government: initial priorities and lessons -- Planning for e-services -- Building e-governance -- Implementation agenda -- Early experience and lessons -- Annex 7.1 Criteria for determining impact & feasibility of offering services online -- Determining impact -- Determining feasibility -- Empowering communities -- Innovation in ICT use for poverty reduction -- Bottom-up planning and participatory development -- Serving the bottom of the pyramid -- The user innovation revolution -- Demand-driven ICT-enabled development -- Financing ICT innovation: lessons from InfoDev -- Conditions for ensuring impact by small grants -- Strategies for soliciting and funding good proposals -- Evaluating proposals and making funding decisions -- Good practices in managing a small-grant program -- E-society: design and early experience -- Overview of the fund -- Practices in soliciting and funding proposals -- Arrangements for implementation and monitoring -- Early operation and lessons learned -- Key lessons of eSri Lanka -- Designing and implementing a holistic framework for e-development -- Developing e-leadership institutions -- Transforming government -- Empowering communities -- Appendix 1 Main program components of eSri Lanka -- ICT policy, leadership, and institutional development program -- Information infrastructure program -- Reengineering government program -- ICT human resource capacity-building program -- ICT investment and private sector development program -- E-society program -- Appendix 2 Selected indicators for Sri Lanka and comparators -- Bibliography -- About the author

In the lead up to the millennium, the rapid development of the World Wide Web, internet and word processing technologies began to change the way we communicate, work, learn, and live. In its most positive light, information and communication technologies have enabled new work and learning opportunities across boundaries and among communities. This paper focuses on how this change applied sensibly has opened up new dimensions for the provision of equitable, accessible and affordable learning opportunities to develop the international workforce professionally. The context of discussion is based on Commonwealth of Learning's experience in providing transnational workplace training for four UN organizations, one humanitarian oragnisation and an international financial institution. This has witnessed the opening up of effective virtual classes for learners based in over 100 different countries, enabling the medical officer based in Luanda, Angola to pursue the same learning experience as his/her counterpart based in Geneva. We describe the paradigm shift taking place as "Think globally, learn locally" an educational version of the well known dictum of "think globally, act locally" i. The shift was triggered by employing appropriate information and communication technologies (ICTs) in a pedagogically sound manner to enable the widest distribution of cross-boarders learning and to encourage the unrestricted access to learning by women and marginalized learners in troubled, remote and isolated locations in the world.

The knowledge society is a changing society in which information expands rapidly and circulates continuously around the globe; money and capital flow in a restless and relentless search for new investment opportunities; organizations continually restructure themselves; government policies undergo volatile shifts as electorates become more and more capricious; and multicultural migration keeps reconstituting the communities in which we live. There are many aspects of the era of the knowledge society. Also, there are many factors and agents that can facilitate or hinder the transition to the knowledge society. This paper will just focus on teachers' concerns and roles on the knowledge society. The paper will start by introducing the students' concerns as end-users of the educational services. Then I will move on to introduce what knowledge society means and what are the roles and responsibility in this era and how can we support teachers in the knowledge society to develop and be helped to develop capacities for taking risks, dealing with change, and undertaking inquiries when new demands and novel problems repeatedly confront them. Keywords: learning, teaching, knowledge, challenges, potentials

Recepción: 18 de abril de 2016 ; Revisión: 4 de mayo de 2016 ; Aceptado: 9 mayo de 2016 ; Correspondencia: bcarrasquillo18@suagm.edu ; Este artículo tiene como objetivo reseñar el libro: La escuela y los ambientes y contextos de la enseñanza-aprendizaje. Es una compilación de cinco artículos que profundizan en diversos aspectos de la educación escolar y el estado de situación actual según los renglones económicos, sociales, culturales, científicos y tecnológicos dentro del contexto de la sociedad del conocimiento. Este libro es parte de la Serie: Desafíos de la Educación en un Mundo Complejo de Universitas Nueva Civilización en Chile, resultado de un ciclo de investigación de varios colaboradores en temas relacionados con la diversidad, pobreza, igualdad de oportunidades de género, integración y justicia social, formación de educadores, desescolarización, entre otros. En cada texto, sus autores y autoras presentan propuestas prácticas a los problemas socio-educativos desde una perspectiva y enfoque críticos. Nuestro propósito es resaltar la educación democrática y las comunidades de aprendizaje como alternativas para la transformación social y educativa. ; This article is to review the book: La escuela y los ambientes y contextos de la enseñanza-aprendizaje, a compilation of five articles that delve into various aspects of school education and the status of the current situation according to economic, social, cultural, scientific and technological aspects within the context of the knowledge society. This book is part of the series: Desafíos de la Educación en un Mundo Complejo of Universitas Nueva Civilización in Chile. Also is a result of a cycle of research about diversity, poverty, equal gender opportunities, integration and social justice, teacher's professional development, unschooling, among others. In each text, its authors present a critical approach and practical proposals to socio-educational issues. Our purpose is to highlight the democratic education and learning communities as new alternative ways to reach a social and educational transformation. ; Universidad de Granada. Departamento de Psicología Social. Proyecto de Innovación Docente ReiDoCrea

Development-induced displacements may lead to loss of land, livelihoods, shelter, property, and access to social facilities, natural resources and cultural heritage, if the affected people are not cushioned by appropriate compensation and social support mechanisms, as well as integrated rehabilitation programmes to mitigate negative impact. As a result, communities often resist relocations and in some instances the emerging conflicts between the responsible authorities and the affected communities delay critical development projects. The policies of the Government of Zimbabwe are geared towards rural development, economic growth and foreign investment. This calls for a complementing review and harmonisation of legislation, policies and practices designed to protect the rights and livelihoods of rural communities affected and displaced by development projects. In 2019, the Centre for Conflict Management and Transformation (CCMT) hosted a series of multi-stakeholder policy dialogues on the issue of development-induced displacements in Zimbabwe. In addition, a research symposium was held in collaboration with the Tugwi Mukosi Multidisciplinary Research Institute (TMMRI, Midlands State University) on Zimbabwean displacement experiences and policy options. This book, with contributions from a wide range of researchers and practitioners, presents the results of that process.

Dialogue as a technique for group facilitation is valuable for social workers working in the international arena. This article explores the theoretical and practice implications of the dialogue approach. The authors have found that this process offers transformative experiences for participants when used at multinational, multicultural conferences and training events. Two examples of the dialogue approach are presented, from consultation and conference work in Russia and Central and Eastern European communities.

36 p. ; This paper presents and illustrates design principles in a programme of applied science and stakeholder consultation on sustainable agriculture in New Zealand. We report procedures and tools for building deliberations around agriculture performance, societal responsibilities and regional planning challenges, focussing on the question of how effectively to mobilise knowledge from different sources and at different scales about environmental and economic systems to address sustainability policy challenges. A five step framework for stakeholder-based integrated appraisal of collective resource management challenges, called "INTEGRAAL", is used as a basis for identifying different types of deliberation tasks carried out through dialogues facilitated by social science researchers and consultants, engaging scientists, decision-makers and other stakeholders. These tasks can be considered as components in comprehensive integrated assessment procedures. We highlight, with examples from workshops engaging representatives of New Zealand farming and regional government stakeholder communities, how the individual deliberation tasks can be effective as "piecewise" contributions to social learning and capacity building for addressing the dilemmas and complex information needs of contemporary sustainability challenges. In this way, integrative perspectives can be applied progressively, at modest cost and in a decentralised way, adapted to local circumstances and changing needs. ; Cet article présente et illustre des principes de design d'un programme de science appliquée et de consultation autour de l'agriculture soutenable en Nouvelle Zélande. Nous détaillons des outils et procédures pour des délibérations sur la performance de l'agriculture, des responsabilités vers la société au large et, des défis d'aménagement de gouvernance territoriale. La question clé est comment mobiliser les connaissances des diverses sources et à des échelles différentes afin d'affronter les défis de soutenabilité économique et ...

Pasifika students have long been identified as underachieving in New Zealand education achievement statistics (Samu, 2016). Despite widespread awareness of this and continued focus from government policies and Ministry initiatives, insufficient progress has been made to improve these statistics and, as a result, more Pasifika people are in low paid, unskilled employment and issues of poverty have not improved. O le tele o sulu e maua ai figota is a Samoan proverb which illustrates that with the support and guidance of many, the task at hand is easier to achieve. This research was built on this belief and the need to focus on the strategies and processes that secondary school educational leaders employ when attempting to engage and work in effective partnership with Pasifika families, in order to support and guide the learning of Pasifika students and subsequently influence achievement outcomes. Furthermore, while there is a considerable amount of literature on the education of Pasifika students, there is a dearth of knowledge on how schools and educational leaders can engage with Pasifika families. The two aims of this research were to identify and critically examine secondary school leadership practices in engaging with Pasifika families and to explore leaders' perceptions of the impact of engaging with Pasifika families and communities on Pasifika student outcomes. This study employed a qualitative approach that was positioned within the interpretive paradigm but with a Pasifika worldview. Talanoa focus groups were conducted with two senior and middle leaders from four different secondary schools located across Auckland that were predominantly Pasifika in their student population. Participants in this study were not required to be of Pasifika descent; however, seven of the eight participants that agreed to participate identified as Pasifika. Findings were analysed utilising a thematic analysis approach through coding and use of computer software. These results were then presented by theme according to the three research questions that formed the basis of the talanoa focus groups. The data revealed that three key aspects were important for school leaders to understand and value when engaging with Pasifika families. The proposed 'e so'o le fau i le fau' model presents these key factors as necessary to sustain effective partnership between schools, Pasifika students and their families. Recommendations from this study include the need for schools to utilise leaders and teachers of Pasifika heritage to lead the partnership with Pasifika families, and inform ways in which schools can foster an environment that acknowledges the diversity of Pasifika peoples. Schools must also incorporate strategies to engage with Pasifika families into their annual and strategic plans as well as formalise processes of evaluation to continuously seek ways to improve in order to nurture the involvement of Pasifika communities in the school.

Intro -- Community Service-Learning for Spanish Heritage Learners -- Editorial page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Dedication page -- Table of contents -- 1. Introduction -- Introduction to community service-learning for heritage language teaching -- The foundations of community service-learning -- Definitions of community service-learning -- Community service-learning and the ACTFL standards framework -- Communication -- Cultures -- Connections -- Comparisons -- Communities -- The ACTFL standards and HL education -- The benefits and challenges of community service-learning for HL learners -- 2. Service-learning and the language classroom -- Community service-learning and L2 learners -- Community service-learning and the HL classroom -- 3. Introduction to the current study -- The current study -- Rationale -- Methodology -- Setting -- The advanced Spanish for heritage speakers course -- Data collection -- Study limitations -- 4. Making connections and building identities I -- Quantitative findings -- Participant profile -- Prior and future participation in community service-learning -- Satisfaction with community service-learning -- Strengthening connections to communities -- Transformational impact -- Drivers of satisfaction with community service-learning and community connections -- Conclusions -- 5. Making connections and building identities II -- Qualitative analysis -- Qualitative findings -- Awareness of social, political, and economic issues in the community -- Community connections -- Identities -- Language experiences -- Personal growth and transformation -- Discussion -- 6. Community voices -- Methodology -- Community partners and liaisons -- The Center for New North Carolinians -- The Latino Community Coalition of Guilford -- Casa Azul -- The Oakwood Forest Community Center -- The Office of Leadership and Service-Learning

What are some lessons learned from the pandemic? We learned that, in times of crises, the humanitarian needs of students, families, and ourselves must be a top priority. We learned that forming effective partnerships with families and communities is essential to the health and well-being of our children. We were offered a blunt reminder that a system designed to serve the interests of a privileged few was destined to fail our historically underserved students, especially our millions of multilingual learners. Above all, we learned that the "normal" many of us have yearned for was never good enough-that we must envision a "better world," where we build on our multilingual students' unique assets and cultivate their inner brilliance. Only then will we deliver on their promise. It's this "better world," a world in which communities, schools, and classrooms work together as a "whole-child ecosystem," Beyond Crises: Overcoming Linguistic and Cultural Inequities in Communities, Schools, and Classrooms sets out to create. Taking a look from the outside in, Debbie Zacarian, Margarita Calderón, and Margo Gottlieb address three critical arenas: 1. Imagining Communities describes how to design and enact strengths-based family and community partnerships, including the critical importance of identifying, valuing, and acknowledging each member's assets and competencies, and the ways recent crises have amplified their struggles. 2. Imagining Schools takes an up-close look at policies, structures, and now irrelevant ways of schooling that call for change and how we might reconfigure professional development to ensure every teacher and administrator is dedicated to the well-being and success of our multilingual learners. 3. Imagining Classrooms demonstrates how to optimize learning opportunities-both virtual and face-to-face-so our diverse

This article examines the emergence of two waves of reforms across the international non-government organization (INGO) sector in accountability discourse and practice. The first wave accountability model was narrowly framed around the demands of powerful stakeholders such as donors and governments, whereas the second wave was a more holistic approach that prioritized the obligations of INGOs towards their 'beneficiaries'. It is argued that INGOs should embed critically reflective accountability by pursuing further reforms in three thematic areas. First, words such as 'beneficiary' should be expunged from the language of accountability, since it is encoded with norms that implicitly undermine the rights of people and communities to expect that INGOs should be answerable for their actions. Second, listening to marginalized stakeholders should be facilitated by inclusive discursive arenas that enable and empower people 'to speak and be heard'. Lastly, INGOs need to use feedback to become a learning organization, and collaborate with peers to engender a culture of reflective learning across the sector.Points for practitionersThe article offers several policy recommendations structured around three core themes. These include suggestions for the training of field staff, issues concerning the design of participatory exercises, and proposals for a strengthened regime of peer-regulation.

This work investigates Communities of Practice (CoPs) that support social learning in higher education. While most CoP research has taken place in single-stream contexts (e.g. in a university), this study reports on the ecology of a cross-organizational community (university and industry stakeholders) in the context of the formal curriculum. The work examines the role of technology configurations in supporting CoPs in Design and related studies. It also reports on the type and level of technology adoption, focusing on the learner perspective. This study's CoP is made up of 21 third-year university students and ten external stakeholders (mentors, clients and industrial experts). The study concludes with a set of guidelines for the design and evaluation of similar CoP technology configurations. Key guidelines suggest a) supporting enhanced awareness of identity, space and time, b) enabling roles and permissions on-demand according to the requirements of the activities carried out in shared spaces and c) facilitating fluid interoperability between the domain-specific and mainstream/generic productivity tools used by the community. The outcomes of this work can assist instructors, researchers and practitioners in the design of similar technology configurations for CoPs in the formal curricula of their respective Design or relevant fields. ; This work has been partly supported by the project that has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 739578 (RISE – Call: H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2) and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus through the Directorate General for European Programmes, Coordination and Development.

[EN] South Africa (SA) is a developing country struggling to address educational transformation inherited from a previous apartheid regime and created by the current democratic government. Education is an area which is struggling within a SA context. Many schools in disadvantaged communities are faced with inadequate infrastructure and lack of resources yet the expectation is for schools to show evidence of effectiveness irrespective of these challenges. This context prompted an investigation into the development of the school learning environment utilising a participatory action research design at a disadvantaged primary school in the Western Cape, SA. The major findings included that the school learning environment was influenced by the unique challenges and pressures in the school context; that collaborative efforts between stakeholders contribute to school effectiveness irrespective of context through acknowledging the school as an organisational system which requires the principal, educators, parents and community to effectively collaborate through open channels of communication in order to facilitate optimal teaching and learning environments which contribute to school effectiveness. The community component in the school learning environment needed to be acknowledged as the validation of the experiences of educators, learners, parents, principal and community is important in the South African context. ; Adonis, T.; Hartley, S. (2019). Enhancing learning environments through partnerships in an attempt to facilitate school effectiveness. En HEAD'19. 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 95-102. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD19.2019.9132 ; OCS ; 95 ; 102