Reviewing the Impact of the National Strategies Design and Technology Framework for Key Stage Three: A small-­‐scale evaluation of the Design and Technology Framework in England

Since the beginning of Design and Technology (D&T) in the English secondary school curriculum, the teaching of design has been identified as less effective than that of making. Research Questions: What are the experiences of pupils between the ages of 12 and 14 of design learning? Purpose of Study: In 2004 as part of the National Strategies, the D&T framework was launched, aiming to support the teaching of design skills. This is a small-­‐scale study, which begins to explore the experiences of pupils and teachers in four schools in the Northwest of England. Research Methods: The study used a mixed methods approach, gathering quantitative and qualitative data in a questionnaire with a convenience sample of school pupils. The questionnaire responses are analysed alongside qualitative interviews with D&T teachers from the schools. Findings: The findings indicate that many pupils had a clear understanding of the role of designing. However, some common assumptions of the nature of design activity centering on the act of sketching or drawing were evident. The majority of pupils were unable to accurately identify the names of many of the design activities introduced as part of the framework. Conclusions: Whilst some progress has been made in the teaching of design, through the use of design activities introduced in the D&T Framework, the support experienced by teachers was limited and were not sustained beyond the initial training. There are implications for initial teacher educators in supporting beginning teachers and balancing the tensions trainees experience whilst on placements in school. Key Words: Design, designing, pedagogy, teacher educatio

Piety Projects: Islamic Schools for Indonesia's Urban Middle Class

This dissertation examines two educational piety projects competing for control over popular conceptualizations of piety and what it means to be a good Muslim, as presented by Al Azhar 31 Islamic Primary School and Luqman al Hakim Integrated Islamic Primary School in Jogjakarta, Indonesia. Al Azhar 31 promotes an Indonesian Islam, pluralistic and inclusive of multi-tradition approaches to Islam that is flexible in regards to acceptable forms of worship. Luqman al Hakim SIT promotes a transnational Islam, inspired by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and linked to the Indonesian Islamic political party, Prosperous Justice Party (Partai Keadilan Sejatera, PKS). The school's purificationist approach pushes for the removal of local customs and traditions from mainstream Islam and promotes exacting observance of standardized practices. These two schools' disparate approaches to Islam are emblematic of the larger polarizing trends in approaching Islam in Indonesia today. This dissertation has particular significance for understanding the intersection of Islamic movements, Islamic education, and the religious middle class. Based on 15 months of ethnographic research, this dissertation demonstrates how schooling can be a tool for shaping socio-religious and political climates of a community and country. It adds to the growing literature on the educational spaces developing alongside Islamic piety movements throughout the Muslim world. Additionally, this dissertation provides a rare example of the influence on Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood ideologies on education, rather than politics. It also illustrates how the schools' disparate approaches to Islam shape distinct religious subjectivities within their students. The documentation of the innovation of the extended-day Islamic school model and integrated Islam ideology employed by both schools adds to the rich history of Indonesia's Islamic schooling traditions. Finally, this dissertation demonstrates how middle class parents' classed aspirations and anxieties regarding education, wealth, morality, and corruption coalesce to create ready consumers for a particular type of Islamic school: one that provides a longer school day, strong academics, and a robust religious curriculum focused on Islamic morals and values

A scoping review of interventions for preventing and countering violent extremism: Current status and implications for future research

The growth of counter-terrorism efforts has been reported in a number of scholarly studies. These studies have also reported a shift in efforts to prevent future terrorism towards targeting potential future terrorists and preventing them from becoming radicalized, particularly in the Western world. The importance of evidence-based interventions is commonly stressed in the policy processes involved in installing interventions that have the aim of countering/preventing violent extremism (C/PVE). However, there is a lack of knowledge about the state of the evidence for interventions within this field. The objective of this scoping review was to map the evidence base for P/CVE interventions as reported in scholarly studies. We searched multiple databases using search terms related to violent extremism, terrorism and prevention to assess the research describing interventions for C/PVE. A total of 111 publications were included in the study. The interventions identified were most commonly implemented at the national level. Only 38 publications mentioned any kind of outcome and only two publications evaluated the comparative effectiveness of the interventions. The outcomes evaluated were knowledge and attitudes - outcomes without direct relevance for C/PVE. In conclusion, there is a lack of evidence-based interventions that focus on C/PVE. Future research should focus on evaluating the comparative effectiveness of outcomes that are relevant to C/PVE in order to fill this knowledge gap

Journal of Education Innovation and Communication: Redefining Communication: Social Media and the Age of Innovation

The publications of the Communication Institute of Greece, such as the “Journal of Education, Innovation, and Communication (JEICOM)”, are open access without any costs for the authors or the readers. JEICOM is a Fully Peer-Reviewed, Open Access journal, publishing articles from all areas of education, innovation and communication, independent of the events organized by the Communication Institute of Greece. JEICOM’s scope is to provide a free and open platform to academics, researchers, professionals, and postgraduate students to communicate and share knowledge in the form of high quality empirical and theoretical research that is of high interest not only for academic readers but also for practitioners and professionals. JEICOM welcomes theoretical, conceptual and empirical original research papers, case studies, book reviews that demonstrate the innovative and dynamic spirit for the education and communication sciences, from researchers, scholars, educators, policy-makers, and practitioners in education, communication, and related fields. Articles that show scholarly depth, breadth or richness of different aspects of social pedagogy are particularly welcome. The numerous papers presented every year during the conferences organized by the Communication Institute of Greece, enables us to have access to a plethora of papers. Following a rigorous peer- review process, only a selection of these papers submitted is published biannually. In addition, to the papers presented in the Institute’s conference, we do encourage independent submissions of papers too. Nevertheless, before you submit, please make sure to respect the guidelines and templates provided. The current special issue of the “Journal of Education, Innovation, and Communication (JEICOM)”, is our First Special Issue (December 2019). We consider that education and fruitful exchange can improve our lives with the view to nurture intercultural communication. Academics can contribute significantly to the quality of the educational experience and help educate, communicate, exchange, meet new cultures, create and collaborate! We wish you an excellent reading and for the year to come soon, 2020, Health, Love, Knowledge, Education, Prosperity, Communication and Exchange

Media construction and contested identity: analysing homosexuality in Malaysian newspapers

Homosexuality is a complex issue in Malaysia, owing to its identity as a conservative nation with a Malay-Muslim majority. Here, homosexuality is not only unrecognized but also negatively viewed by society. It is unsurprising that the homosexuality issue is not widely covered in the news media in Malaysia. However, recent changes in global politics and communication technology require researchers to evaluate the current literature. Furthermore, the number of researches, particularly homosexuality coverage in the Malaysian media remains insignificant. This research had two objectives: to understand the approach of newspapers utilized in constructing homosexuality coverage and to explore the homosexuals community thoughts of the coverage and their lifestyles. The researcher utilized the social construction theory as a method to guide the methodology and to discuss the findings. The research objectives were achieved in two stages. The first stage was to collect and analyze the textual data from the Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian newspapers, covering the period from 1998 to 2012. During this period, 463 coverage on homosexuality were produced. The findings were invaluable in the second part of the research, to gain insights from 10 Malay homosexual respondents. Overall, the findings from the newspapers show that homosexuality is highly negativized. A much deeper analysis tells that homosexuality issues are dominated by local sociopolitical perspectives. This is evident in the use of news sources that tend to favor individuals who are closely connected to the political elites. The negative depiction of homosexuals is understood as part of an effort to maintain their established status quo. Other sources were from the religious elites who form part of the sociocultural power structure. Sources from the domain of law and order consequently frame the practice of homosexuality as detrimental to peaceful existence in the public sphere. Confronted with these findings, the respondents from interview study showed themselves to be highly aware of the support of the sociopolitical and sociocultural elites on homosexuality as political and cultural capitals. The respondents believed that homosexuality issues should be separated from politicians and their interests. This opinion is not without its merits, and in conclusion this research proposes that the news media in Malaysia should re-evaluate their agenda with respect to the community

From Swaddling to Swastikas: A Life-Course Investigation of White Supremacist Extremism

To date, most terrorism research concerned with the long-term development of extremist behavior focuses on patterns of terrorist attacks, long-term responses to extremist violence or organizational longevity of extremist groups. The current study addresses this void in the existing literature by relying on life-history interviews with 91 North American-based former white supremacists to examine the developmental conditions associated with extremist onset. My attention is primarily focused on individual-level experiences; particularly how childhood risk factors (e.g., abuse, mental illness) and racist family socialization strategies generate emotional and cognitive susceptibilities toward extremist recruitment. This type of investigation contributes to terrorism research by emphasizing some of the early childhood and adolescent experiences that may heighten a person’s vulnerabilities to certain pulls associated with ideology and group dynamics more broadly. Overall, findings from the current dissertation build upon developmental-life course criminology and studies within terrorism that address the role of childhood and adolescent risk factors. In particular, I elaborate on the work of Simi and colleagues (2016) and offer additional context as to the precursors that influence extremist onset

The Rise of iWar: Identity, Information, and the Individualization of Modern Warfare

During a decade of global counterterrorism operations and two extended counterinsurgency campaigns, the United States was confronted with a new kind of adversary. Without uniforms, flags, and formations, the task of identifying and targeting these combatants represented an unprecedented operational challenge for which Cold War era doctrinal methods were largely unsuited. This monograph examines the doctrinal, technical, and bureaucratic innovations that evolved in response to these new operational challenges. It discusses the transition from a conventionally focused, Cold War-era targeting process to one optimized for combating networks and conducting identity-based targeting. It analyzes the policy decisions and strategic choices that were the catalysts of this change and concludes with an in depth examination of emerging technologies that are likely to shape how this mode of warfare will be waged in the future.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1436/thumbnail.jp

Cyber-Islamic Environments and Salafī-Ṣūfī Contestations Appropriating Digital Media and Challenges to Religious Authority

The present study focuses on significant online intra-Islamic ideological contestations with particular focus on the schisms between Salafism and Sufism. The main attention is on the content and strategies of Salafī contestations with Sufism and, to a lesser extent, with certain creedal schools of thought. The study addresses a gap in Cyber-Islamic Environments studies and raises thesis questions addressed through a research design (case study), analytical framework (religious authority), and methodology (qualitative ideological analyses). The purpose is to contribute to a greater understanding of the role of digital media in understudied and yet far-reaching online contestations within Islam—those that seek to define orthodoxy in contemporary Islam. First, the study locates and examines significant loci of Salafī contestations with Sufism, namely, the mawlid (celebrating the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday), grave visitation, and tawassul (seeking intercession through the Prophet and past saints or spiritual masters). Second, the study unpacks and analyses recurring themes and vocabulary that occur in Salafī polemics against Sufism. The arguments against Sufism rely on the strategic usage of well-known judicial-ethical and creedal terminologies of Islamic scriptural sources and intellectual traditions that are now used to challenge the very orthodoxy and orthopraxy of Sufism. These terms have pre-modern roots in Muslim scholarship. However, the terms are repurposed in Salafī discourse to create idioms that cast aspersions upon non-Salafī ideologies in Islam. Third, the study analyses the strategic value of these loci of dispute and terminologies through the analytical framework of religious authority, and, toward that effort, the study proffers a methodology of examining online content and the key arguments and support terminologies that speak to authority in what is essentially transnational and de-territorialized discourses. This dissertation thus seeks to contribute original research that helps to fill a lacuna in the study of consequential online intra-Islamic contestations