Discovering academics' key learning connections: An ego-centric network approach to analysing learning about teaching

The aim of this exploratory study is to investigate the role of personal networks in supporting academics’ professional learning about teaching. As part of a wider project, the paper focuses on the composition of academics’ networks and possible implications of network tendencies for academics’ learning about teaching. The study adopts a mixed-method approach. Firstly, the composition of academics’ networks is examined using Social Network Analysis. Secondly, the role of these networks in academics’ learning about teaching is analysed through semi-structured interviews. Findings reveal the prevalence of localised and strong-tie connections, which could inhibit opportunities for effective learning and spread of innovations in teaching. The study highlights the need to promote connectivity within and across institutions, creating favourable conditions for effective professional development

Sustainability of the chemical manufacturing industry - Towards a new paradigm?

This paper describes the current situation of the chemicalmanufacturingindustry, with special reference to Europe and looks to the future sustainability demands on the sector, and the implications of these demands for chemical engineering education. These implications include definitions of sustainability criteria for the sector and the need for transparent reporting under the Triple Bottom Line approach. The response of the education system to the sustainability agenda over the years and a number of strategies to incorporate it into courses are described. The important role of chemical (or more generally, process) engineers in delivering sustainable solutions is emphasised but this also suggests that anew way of thinking about the discipline is required. Indeed, this paper argues that the demand for a sustainable chemicalmanufacturing sector could bring about the next paradigm shift in the discipline which has been predicted for some time

Democracy, the academic field and the (New Zealand) journalistic habitus

The relationship between journalism and the academy is historically fraught. Any mention of the word ‘theory’ is only likely to exacerbate these tensions, since it perhaps signifies, most clearly, the division between both identities. Drawing on the social theory of Pierre Bourdieu, this paper considers, with particular empirical reference to the New Zealand context, the often antagonistic relationship between the ‘journalistic field’ and the ‘academic field’. I examine how academic identities are sometimes represented ‘fantasmatically’ (Glynos and Howarth, 2007) in journalistic discourse and explore the contradictions between journalism’s official commitment to democratic values and the desire of at least some journalists to silence or lampoon academic voices, or insist that theoretical reflection is somehow incompatible with good journalism. The articulation of particular journalistic identities is contextualised with reference to the more ‘objective’ logic of the New Zealand journalistic field and, in particular, the structuring of its concrete relationship with the academic field through journalism education programmes. Although the culturally sedimented practices precluding the possibility of a different inter-field dynamic are considerable, I conclude by ‘visualising’ an alternative relationship, one constituted, on all sides, by what Williams Connolly (2005) characterises as a properly democratic ethos of ‘agonistic respect’ across difference

How a Christian Ethic of Care Can Inform the Organization and Structure of Schools of Education

A natural outcome of a Christian ethic of care is the adoption of structures and organizations that facilitate or enhance this kind of caring. This article investigates these kinds of structures as they relate to schools of education. Discussion and recommendations focus on moving away from a hierarchical model toward a more organic structure where authority and decision-making are more distributed, communication is emphasized, and collaboration is the norm

Student-Centered Learning: Functional Requirements for Integrated Systems to Optimize Learning

The realities of the 21st-century learner require that schools and educators fundamentally change their practice. "Educators must produce college- and career-ready graduates that reflect the future these students will face. And, they must facilitate learning through means that align with the defining attributes of this generation of learners."Today, we know more than ever about how students learn, acknowledging that the process isn't the same for every student and doesn't remain the same for each individual, depending upon maturation and the content being learned. We know that students want to progress at a pace that allows them to master new concepts and skills, to access a variety of resources, to receive timely feedback on their progress, to demonstrate their knowledge in multiple ways and to get direction, support and feedback from—as well as collaborate with—experts, teachers, tutors and other students.The result is a growing demand for student-centered, transformative digital learning using competency education as an underpinning.iNACOL released this paper to illustrate the technical requirements and functionalities that learning management systems need to shift toward student-centered instructional models. This comprehensive framework will help districts and schools determine what systems to use and integrate as they being their journey toward student-centered learning, as well as how systems integration aligns with their organizational vision, educational goals and strategic plans.Educators can use this report to optimize student learning and promote innovation in their own student-centered learning environments. The report will help school leaders understand the complex technologies needed to optimize personalized learning and how to use data and analytics to improve practices, and can assist technology leaders in re-engineering systems to support the key nuances of student-centered learning

Zeitgeist: information literacy and educational change

Information literacy is a mosaic of attitudes, understandings, capabilities and knowledge about which there are three myths. The first myth is that it is about the ability to use ICTs to access a wealth of information. The second is that students entering higher education are information literate because student centred, resource based, and ICT focused learning are now pervasive in secondary education. The third myth is that information literacy development can be addressed by library-centric generic approaches. This paper addresses those myths and emphasises the need for information literacy to be recognised as the critical whole of education and societal issue, fundamental to an information-enabled and better world. In formal education, information literacy can only be developed by infusion into curriculum design, pedagogies, and assessment