Towards an analysis of the teacher as researcher

The purpose of this study has been the examination of the role of the 'teacher as researcher' and the analysis of, the participation of teachers in research in their own classrooms. This has involved a study of two projects - the Humanities Curriculum Project and the Ford Teaching Project - which introduced the idea of teachers examining their own practice, and an analysis of action research from the perspectives of John Elliott and Stephen Kemmis. Three recent projects: (a) Leicestershire Classroom Research In-Service Education Project (b) A Register of Self-Evaluation Schemes compiled with the Open University (c) A Schools Council Programme 2 Project: Leicestershire Network were analysed to determine what happened when teachers engaged in self-evaluation and research in their own classrooms. The results show that there are only a small number of teachers actively engaged in self-evaluation and they experience difficulty in starting their research because they lack experience of monitoring techniques and how to fit these procedures into the routines of teaching. Creating time to engage in self-evaluation is a major inhibiting factor. The need for a support structure to help teachers is clearly identified and-the role of co-ordinators to bring teachers together to share ideas is essential for the development of this work. At the present moment the teachers have taken the first step in acquiring competence and confidence. Many of the teachers expressed the view that self-evaluation had enabled them to learn more about their teaching, about pupils, and about their own subject

Rural Pupils Making their Way through the Norwegian Education System: Enablements, Constraints and Agency in a Northern Norwegian Context

This thesis focuses on pupils’ agency and their experiences with and reflections on educational choices. The theoretical framework draws on Margaret Archer’s morphogenetic approach as it examines parts of the educational situational logics, as well as her Three-Stage Model in which structural and cultural properties shape agents’ situations. The thesis thus explores constraints and enablements pupils face, and courses of actions that are produced through their reflexive deliberations. The thesis is based on semistructured interviews at two points in time with eighteen pupils in one rural and one urban municipality; it is supplemented by the researcher’s previous experiences and contextual knowledge. This thesis argues that rural pupils are constrained by rural demography, the centralized education system, the assimilation/colonisation of the Sámi people and a spatially and ethnically unaware curriculum. Local opportunities’ structures, to some extent, enable rural pupils. In addition, their decision-making capabilities enable them to navigate within existing structures. In Archer’s theory, spatial contexts are not entirely explicit; the way spatial constraints and enablements are actualised in specific structural contexts can be further developed. Theoretically, this thesis engages with spatial contexts in addressing structural constraints and enablements. It emphasises space within Archer’s theoretical framework, as spatial properties produce unequal conditions for education.Avhandlinga setter søkelys på elevers aktørskap og deres erfaringer med, og refleksjoner omkring valg av utdanning. Det teoretiske rammeverket bygger på Margaret Archers morfogenetiske tilnærming. Rammeverket benyttes for å undersøke enkelte aspekter ved utdanningens situasjonslogikk. I tillegg gjøres det bruk av Archers Trestegs-modell som muliggjør en analyse av hvordan strukturelle og kulturelle egenskaper påvirker situasjonen til aktører. Avhandlinga undersøker dermed hvordan elevene refleksivt overveier egne handlinger i lys av strukturelle muligheter og begrensinger. Avhandlinga er basert på semistrukturerte intervju, utført på to tidspunkt, med atten elever i en rural og en urban kommune. I tillegg benyttes forskerens egne erfaringer og kontekstuelle kjennskap. Avhandlinga antyder at rurale elever er begrensa av rural demografi, det sentraliserte utdanningssystemet, koloniseringa av Sápmi, og en læreplan som tar mindre hensyn til rom/sted og etnisitet. Lokale mulighetsstrukturer gir, til en viss grad elever i distrikta handlingsrom. I tillegg benytter de seg av egne beslutnings egenskaper, noe som gjør dem til i stand til å navigere de eksisterende strukturene. Archers teori har i liten grad tatt for seg kontekstuelle betingelser; hvordan muligheter og begrensinger blir aktualisert i spesifikke strukturelle kontekster kan derfor videreutvikles. På et teoretisk plan befatter denne avhandlinga seg med kontekst ved å adressere strukturelle begrensinger og muligheter. Ettersom romlige egenskaper produserer ulike betingelser for utdanning, fremhever avhandlinga romlige/stedlige aspekter i Archers teoretiske rammeverk

1.5-Degree Lifestyles: Towards A Fair Consumption Space for All

This report uses a science-based approach to link concrete changes in lifestyles to measurable impacts on climate change in order to achieve the 1.5-degree aspirational target of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The report also fills the knowledge gap arising from most prevailing climate scenarios that underplay the potential contributions of lifestyle changes to climate change mitigation and focus on developing new technologies as well as on changes in production.A summary for policy makers and individual sections of the report can be dowloaded here: https://hotorcool.org/1-5-degree-lifestyles-report/A recording of the report launch is available here:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLncecPWTUt9l_I0hQzg3BpGkkTz-h2uh

Agroforestry Opportunities for Enhancing Resilience to Climate Change in Rainfed Areas,

Not AvailableAgroforestry provides a unique opportunity to achieve the objectives of enhancing the productivity and improving the soil quality. Tree systems can also play an important role towards adapting to the climate variability and important carbon sinks which helps to decrease the pressure on natural forests. Realizing the importance of the agroforestry in meeting the twin objectives of mitigation and adaptation to climate change as well as making rainfed agriculture more climate resilient, the ICAR-CRIDA has taken up the challenge in pursuance of National Agroforestry Policy 2014, in preparing a book on Agroforestry Opportunities for Enhancing Resilience to Climate Change in Rainfed Areas at ICAR-CRIDA to sharpen the skills of all stakeholders at national, state and district level in rainfed areas to increase agricultural productivity in response to climate changeNot Availabl