Trembling on the Precipice of Possibility: A Story About Becoming a Teacher Educator for Social Justice

AbstractThis article describes the strategy of creating an illustrated story book as an attempt to invite teacher education candidates to engage in deeper reflection and critical analysis common sense which shapes their teaching. In the process of describing how to teach preservice teachers to teach for social justice the author uses examples from her own development as a teacher educator for social justice. The author suggests four elements that may be critical to teaching teacher candidates to persevere in rigorous critique of their own common sense. They are imagery and intensifying metaphor; foolishness; a dialectic of criticality and joy; and communal sharing.            Keywords: teacher education, critical analysis, preservice teachers, social justic

On the impact of indexation and demographic ageing on inequality among pensioners

Possible future trends in the development of pension adequacy are usually simulated using dynamic microsimulation models. These models are very complex and include many different processes. This, and the many individual interactions, makes it difficult to see which procedures and relations underlie the observed simulation results. Hence, the discussion of simulation results, and especially trends, tend to be based on ‘common sense reasoning’ using only a few fundamental parameters. If this strategy to explain the simulation results from a dynamic MSM is valid, then a simple stylized model describing these fundamental relations should be able to capture the long-term trends in inequality among pensioners. The results of the stylized model could then be comparable to those of a dynamic microsimulaton model. This strategy also allows to validate dynamic microsimulation models. This paper uses such a simple model to show some general relations between indexation, retirement age, demographic ageing and the inequality of pensions. The results of this stylized model are then compared to simulation results of a dynamic MSM, in this case MIDAS Belgium.microsimulation, ageing, social hypotheses, poverty, inequality

Number Sense and the Effects on Students’ Mathematical Success

This literature review’s main focus discussed how number sense effect students’ mathematical achievement and what strategies teachers can use to build students’ number sense. While researching number sense, it was often found that explicit instruction, teacher knowledge, and socio-economic status impacts students’ knowledge of number sense. It has been found that the earlier students start learning simple math skills the better it will be on their math development as they go into kindergarten and get older. In knowing the importance of number sense, teachers have to know what strategies they should use to support all students build number sense. A common instructional strategy used to teach number sense, is explicit instruction. A few of the many instructional strategies explained in more detail include: Five frames, number lines, think alouds, and concrete to abstract representations. Teachers need to have the knowledge of how strategies can be used to support students’ mathematical understanding. This literature review will also look at instructional strategies, future research, memorizing versus understanding, and the literacy connection of number sense

Community in the Online Science Classroom

As online course offerings rise, it is important to design and facilitate courses to promote community so students feel connected to each other and the instructor and feel a sense of belonging as a scientist. Online discussions are a common feature for building and nurturing community and combating isolation. Discussions stimulate active learning, a strategy to promote participation in knowledge construction. This sense of community and science identity is important for both persistence and performance. I will share efforts to promote community while reducing extraneous cognitive load through discussion design and targeted instructor professional development. I will share data on connections between community, identity, and cognitive load in asynchronous discussions. Ultimately, we want to ask questions like how much of an influence the instructor has, looking beyond teaching presence to explore faculty mindset (both about their own teaching and about their students)

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Emerging Themes, Race/class And The Design Of Peel Youth Village

This paper examines the design strategy CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) and critiques its implementation through a case study in a certain space within the City of Mississauga, Ontario. A concept that continues to gain credibility within urban design and law enforcement circles, CPTED has been incorporated into many municipalities' official plans, Mississauga being one of them. Through interviews with proponent practitioners of CPTED and a case study of the Peel Youth Village, I identify three key themes inherent in every argument as to why CPTED should be the strategy of choice: safer environments as paramount above all else; strategies as common sense, simple and obvious solutions to problems; and modern, updated, and aesthetically pleasing environments as inherently safe. What these themes fail to take into account is the racial and class consequences that can result from implementation of CPTED strategies, with little or no attempt to acknowledge and rectify these issues. A case study of the Peel Youth Village is examined as a recent project to highlight how these themes played out through the development and evolution of the space. I then examine CPTED within a larger governmental framework and look to address why race and class considerations, as well as a lack of an inclusive participatory process exists within a framework that has proven statistically somewhat effective and seemingly "common sense", and conclude by offering ways in which CPTED may look to remedy the aforementioned oversights of race and class, while continuing its effectivenes

Markets for technology (why do we see them, why don't we see more of them and why we should care)

This essay explores the nature, the functioning, and the economic and policy implications of markets for technology. Today, the outsourcing of research and development activities is more common than in the past, and specialized technology suppliers have emerged in many industries. In a sense, the Schumpeterian vision of integrating R&D with manufacturing and distribution is being confronted by the older Smithian vision of division of labor. The existence and efficacy of markets for technology can profoundly influence the creation and diffusion of new knowledge, and hence, economic growth of countries and the competitive position of companies. The economic and managerial literatures have touched upon some aspects of the nature of these markets. However, a thorough understanding of how markets for technology work is still lacking. In this essay we address two main questions. First, what are the factors that enable a market for technology to exist and function effectively? Specifically we look at the role of industry structure, the nature of knowledge, and intellectual property rights and related institutions. Second, we ask what the implications of such markets are for the boundaries of the firm, the specialization and division of labor in the economy, industry structure, and economic growth. We build on this discussion to develop the implications of our work for public policy and corporate strategy

An analysis of the six dimensions of psychological well-being in learning reflections of leaders. Exploring the influence of storytelling on leader development.

This study aims to explore the psychological well-being (PWB) and leadership development phenomena to increase the understanding of their meaning and influence on leaders. The utilisation of the qualitative case study research strategy explored the influence of storytelling on the development of leaders participating in a leadership development program. Reflection data from 40 senior leader participants was collected from a leadership development program at which influential speakers shared their personal leadership journeys. Utilising the NVivo 12 software for computer-assisted deductive and inductive coding, evidence of the Ryff six factors of PWB (1995) was found. In addition, cross-case synthesis analysis and thematic content analysis uncovered common themes within the Ryff dimensions of PWB across the cases of participant reflection data. Common themes identified included people-perspective leadership styles, proactively connecting with followers, visionary leadership, the ability to appreciate new perspectives, a strong sense of self, staying true to your values and beliefs, and effectively managing family and work-life. The emerging themes were explored, highlighting the positive influence of storytelling on participants and the enhancement of leader PWB and leadership development. The practical implication of this study is that findings suggest that leaders who integrate the common themes identified from the learning reflections into their own leadership style will support their dimensions of PWB to become leaders with more positive psychology and thus improved leadership

Uganda: Data Strategy and Capacity Building (2nd Report)

This report presents key outcomes from the Uganda Data Strategy and Capacity Building Workshop, held in Kampala on the 5th of December 2016. The workshop brought together local philanthropy stakeholders who participated in a "Data Scoping Meeting" held on the 27th of October 2016, which identified the need to build capacity in data management and explore strategies for developing a collective philanthropy data system for Uganda (For more information, download the meeting report). The Data Strategy and Capacity Building Workshop was hosted by the Uganda National Philanthropy Forum (UPF) in partnership with Foundation Center, East Africa Association of Grantmakers (EAAG), Independent Development Fund (IDF), and Development Network of Indigenous Voluntary Associations (DENIVA).The ultimate goal of the Data Strategy and Capacity Building work in Uganda is to lay the necessary groundwork for the local philanthropy sector to build and operate its own data collection system. The two workshops held to date provided opportunities for key stakeholders to develop a sense of common purpose around data collection and sharing. The result of the meetings was the creation of an Action Plan that identifies critical areas of work that need to be undertaken by UPF to build a sustainable data collection system and a community of practice committed to its achievement. The elements of the Action Plan are presented in this report, beginning on page 9

Implementing Sustainable Competitive Advantage to the Public Sector’s Management System – By Sense and Respond Methodology in Facilities Services Unit’s Preparedness

How to ensure that the various levels of the organization are operating in accordance with a common strategy? According to the Hallberg committee’s Preparedness and comprehensive security report [1] the key challenges the public sector organization faces lies in finding new ways of operating horizontally across various levels of administration. This paper aims to develop the preparedness in the target organization by strategy’s resource-based identification for implementing sustainable competitive advantages to the public sector’s management system. The research methods used are a case study and surveys, which were connected by the analytical hierarchy process based form and two sense and respond (S&R) based forms.The longitudinal data for the surveys were collected in two phases and analyzed with the balanced critical factor index method [2] and transformational leadership indexes (TLI) with technology levels [3]. The BCFI & TLI method identifies and clarifies the unit’s development and risk factors. According to [4] during the process of sense and respond, it is important to develop an operational strategy adjustment system by utilizing critical factor evaluation. As [5] describes in her dissertation if there were clear goals defined for the quality of the (public)services the natural choice of the approach in the purpose of evaluation for accountability would be the goal-attainment evaluation. The innovative findings lay the groundwork for the decision makers to focus efforts and readjust the operations of the target organization in order to achieve operational sustainable competitive advantage (OSCA).© 2013 The author(s). This article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-NoDerivs license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Inhibiting N-acyl-homoserine lactone synthesis and quenching Pseudomonas quinolone quorum sensing to attenuate virulence

YesBacteria sense their own population size, tune the expression of responding genes, and behave accordingly to environmental stimuli by secreting signaling molecules. This phenomenon is termed as quorum sensing (QS). By exogenously manipulating the signal transduction bacterial population behaviors could be controlled, which may be done through quorum quenching (QQ). QS related regulatory networks have been proven their involvement in regulating many virulence determinants in pathogenic bacteria in the course of infections. Interfering with QS signaling system could be a novel strategy against bacterial infections and therefore requires more understanding of their fundamental mechanisms. Here we review the development of studies specifically on the inhibition of production of N-acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL), a common proteobacterial QS signal. The opportunistic pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, equips the alkylquinolone (AQ)-mediated QS which also plays crucial roles in its pathogenicity. The studies in QQ targeting on AQ are also discussed.University of Malaya High Impact Research Grants (UMC/625/1/HIR/MOHE/CHAN/01, A-000001-50001,and UMC/625/1/HIR/MOHE/CHAN/14/1, H-50001-A000027