Tanzania Leaders’ Perceptions of Practices that Resulted in Successes and Failures of Educational Development Programs in Coastal Tanzania

The leadership of development programs in developing countries is characterized by complex leadership processes failing to produce the intended results of improving education, economic development or poverty reduction in many developing countries. The research revealed that the programs had not been able to resolve such complex matters as the achievement gap and improvement of the quality of education in Tanzania. A lack of visionary leaders and leadership failures meant that these development programs did not produce their intended results. The purpose of the study was to examine the past educational development program efforts in order to assess issues that contributed to their success or failure and secure recommendations to improve future educational development program implementation. Historical analyses of changes of leadership over significant periods demonstrated that leadership had a profound influence on the development or lack of development of the country. Thus, these failures bring into question the effectiveness of processes and leadership strategies that rely on foreign aid as the fundamental source for sustainable development programs in African countries. The study focused on the evidence that many government programs sponsored by international institutions do not lead to improvement in education, social or economic development. The qualitative research study facilitated the use of an inductive approach (new information) from the selected coastal region in Tanzania to identity concepts that could lead to better leadership processes and strategies in the future implementation of educational development programs. Theoretical sampling of the emerging concepts may reveal mental models, strategic structure, processes and outcomes that could result in implementation of sustainable development programs in Tanzania in the future. The study results indicated several educational development program successes included increased enrollment at primary and secondary school levels and increased access to education for female students. Results from the study illustrated that a shortage of teachers due to increased population, inadequate budgets to conduct school inspection, and cultural beliefs hindered development programs’ successes. Two other areas reported as concerns included a lack of accountability and discrimination regarding special needs children. Participants’ recommended training of visionary leaders, recognition, training and remuneration for teachers, and the updating of policies with clear expectations

Nursing Annual Report: 2021

Message from the CNO Message from Central Operations, SVP - St. Cloud Hospital President St. Cloud Hospital Statistics New Magnet Program Director, Nursing Strategic Plan FY 2021 Patient Experience Nursing Care Delivery Exemplary Professional Practice Shared Governance Working Relationships Professional Development Nursing Makes a Differenc

Faith Decisions: Christian Initiation for Children of the Glenwood Church of Christ

The purpose of this study is to produce a program of instruction and events that will facilitate the initiation of children of the Glenwood Church of Christ into the full fellowship of the church. The project begins by identifying the problem of an imprecise definition of the status of children within Churches of Christ and how this uncertainty affects the process of initiating children of the church. The project continues by avowing the innocence of all children while recognizing a difference existing between children of the church and those outside the sphere of the church. The difference is community. Those who are children of the church live within the boundaries of the community and are nurtured and shaped from birth to assume their roles as adult members of that community. The model for their initiation must, by its very nature, differ from the model of initiation for those who come into the community from outside

A Study of the Principals’ Perceptions of the Impact of the Decentralization Reform in Albania

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of decentralization reform on the principals’ perceptions about their role(s) and capacities, and decentralization‘s strengths, weaknesses, and barriers that principals experienced in a southern Albanian school district from June 2008 through June 2013. The results of this study will be used to assist educational leaders in the implementation of decentralization reform in Albania as it moves toward its next phase. A wealth of studies have identified differences in the role(s) and capacities of principals, as well as their perceptions of the strengths, weaknesses, and barriers resultant from decentralization reform in education systems worldwide. The reasons behind such a difference lie in the social, economic, and political context of the country in which the decentralization reform takes place. This study affirmed some of the ideas pertaining in research, as well as identified other elements that are particular to the context in Albania. The participants of this study reported changes of the principal’s roles and capacities in textbook selection, teacher employment, School Board/Community Relations, OLM and OLD classes (academic enrichment activities), teacher professional development, management of school finances, accountability for outcomes, and class offerings after the decentralization reform. The reported strengths of decentralization reform were school-based management and stakeholder relationships. The subjects reported lack of accountability, principal’s leadership capacities, inadequate funding, teaching licensing, and interventions to textbook selections as weaknesses of decentralization reform. The reported barriers included people’s culture, management of school finances, bureaucracy and political influence, resources, and imprecise legal framework. This study is significant because it provides insights about the impact of the decentralization reform in the Albanian education system from June 2008 through June 2013. Thus, it provides educational policy makers with valuable data for examining and modifying the policy to achieve the goals of the decentralization reform. It also helps school principals as it indicates the areas where principals need to work to improve their school effectiveness and leadership

Small Groups That Fuel Active Service in the Local Church

Manna Church prioritizes empowering and developing leaders as an imperative objective of the local church. Such development is fueled through various avenues, including small groups. This thesis project will survey the purpose of small groups within Manna Church and how newly designed groups can address the problem of low voluntary participation in weekly services. The need for more active serve team members problematically exists among six site locations in the Fayetteville-Fort Bragg region. Furthermore, each ministry leader seeks innovative strategies to initiate and maintain involvement during weekly services. However, numbers are at an unprecedented low point. The effects of these results require a scholastic analysis and evaluation of methodologies that fuel voluntary service within the local church

Early Church History: Inspiring and Educating the Faith of Millennials

This Project’s NPO is: Evangelical Millennial Jesus-followers will be nurtured and inspired in their faith by learning from the experience of the Early Church. A key insight from the research is that Christians in the Millennial Generation (born between 1980 and 1996) are interested in Church history but they do not have the time nor the inclination to read textbooks explaining a subject that covers two thousand years. Research further attests to lower attention spans among Millennials compared to older generations. Therefore, this project’s ambition is to make Early Church history accessible, relevant, and hopefully a source of spiritual renewal for the Millennial generation. Another key insight is the Millennial’s affinity for the digital space, and specifically, online learning. To take advantage of this new educational paradigm, this project is completely online. My vocational background involves website creation and hosting in an entrepreneurial, digital setting. Creating a Project Portfolio that utilizes this environment proved to be propitious. This Project is a website that contains eight brief videos, each one explaining an aspect of Early Church history. The entire span of Church history is too large an undertaking for this project’s parameters; therefore, the focus is limited to the Church’s first three hundred years. The first video begins by examining the Book of Acts and the events surrounding Pentecost; the last video discusses the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. Although the videos are the main attraction, the website is multifunctional: There is a scripture quote of the day, a timeline of Church history, and a reference guide with links to other useful Christian websites. The website address is www.TroyRappold.com. Because this project is wholly digital and existing on the internet, anyone can access the material anywhere in the world at any time

Mathematical Teachers’ Perception: Mobile Learning and Constructing 21st Century Collaborative Cloud-Computing Environments in Elementary Public Schools in the State of Kuwait

The purpose of this study was to examine Kuwaiti mathematical elementary teachers’ perceptions about their ability to integrate M-learning (mobile learning) into their current teaching practices and the major barriers hindering teachers’ ability to create an M-learning environment. Furthermore, this study sought to understand teachers’ perceptions about their ability to create a collaborative cloud-computing learning environment that corresponds with the 21st century skills and possibly explain their readiness for future reformation of education in Kuwait. Using an Internet-based format to this study quantitative and qualitative data, the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and barriers survey gleaned quantitative information about how mathematics teachers and a head of a mathematics department (n = 562) viewed use of technology as well as the barriers they faced in integrating it into the classroom. Also, qualitative data were collected using a survey of open-ended questions to provide context to survey answers and better understand the barriers and affordance experienced by the participants. Moreover, a 21st century open-ended questionnaire was employed to collect qualitative information from mathematics teachers and head of the departments (n = 21) in regard the their ability to construct a 21st century learning environment based on collaboration and constructivist perspective utilizing a cloud-computing technology. Quantitative analysis was utilized to examine elementary mathematics teachers’ perceptions using the TPACK survey, and the validity and reliability of the TPACK subscales were computed by administering the confirmatory factor analysis. Factors that were elicited were specified as: all seven subscales encompassed in the TPACK survey significantly fit model of factor structures, and the TPACK survey was reliable and valid. In addition, descriptive analysis such as the TPACK subscale means and standard deviations were computed via the SPSS software Qualitative content analysis was used to understand teachers’ perceptions about their ability to integrate mobile technology, perceptions of the primary barriers and affordance that limited their ability, and their perceptions of their ability to integrate collaborative cloud computing and create a 21st century learning environment based on the constructivist perspective. When analyzed, the self-reported open-ended survey yielded the following specific themes: (a) teachers perceived themselves high in their ability to integrate mobile technology; (b) the primary barriers based on teachers’ perceptions were budget constraints, IT limitations, time constraints, and administrative support; and (c) teachers perceived themselves high in their ability to integrate collaborative cloud computing to construct a 21st century learning environment based on the constructivist perspective. This study finding could be implemented to create a new modern mathematics elementary curriculum that resolves the current curriculum issues. Future research is recommended in the direction of creating a new mathematical curriculum based on administrators’, parents’, and students’ perspectives

Integral and Holistic Catechesis for Children in the Third Millennium

The Third Millennium necessitates a catechetical vision that engages the whole person and is faithful to both God and the human person who receives it. Catechesis, from the beginning, has had the mission to witness to and instruct believers in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This dissertation seeks to lay out a Catechetical Synthesis which sets the stage for children (and adults) of how the Church over the last two thousand years has transmitted the gift of the deposit of faith by engaging the whole person: body, heart and mind. Catechesis which does not engage the whole person is not able to fully bring about an authentic interior and exterior transformation of individuals. The catechetical renewal that blossomed in the twentieth century brought out three enduring catechetical priorities: 1) the importance of imparting the Christian message by using methods appropriate to the age and circumstances of the individual; 2)Proclaiming the Gospel message completely and systematically encompassing with thekerygma and the events of salvation history throughout its proclamation; and 3) To link the life experiences of the person with the truths of the Gospel. The whole work of catechesis must presume the integral role of the family. Without the involvement of the parents who are the earliest heralds of the Gospel and impact the religious beliefs of their children first and foremost, catechesis outside the home will be insufficient. Integral and holistic catechesis incorporates both the affective and the cognitive dimensions of the human person so as to bring about and foster in every believer comes “to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).

Talking across the Chasm: Opening up Higher Education against the Policy Backdrop of the Knowledge Economy

The focus of this chapter is on the implications of the discourse of marketisation in higher education (HE) for academics who practise (or wish to practise) open education in English universities. Academics in favour of open education often face barriers to implementing openness in practice as a direct result of national policy, which emphasises competition and exclusivity in contrast to the collaboration and inclusivity at the heart of the open education agenda. One recent policy development, in particular, is likely to increase these barriers: the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). To explore these differences, this chapter presents a comparative critical discourse analysis of the UK government’s White Paper for the TEF, and a Science for Policy report by the European Commission on opening up education