123 research outputs found

    The Impact of Brain Drain on Haiti\u27s Rural Communities: The Case of a Small Town in Central Haiti and Its Surroundings.

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    This qualitative participatory action research study investigated the causes and impacts of brain drain on Haiti’s rural communities, focusing on a small town in Central Haiti and its surrounding communities. Research shows that the brain drain has affected developing countries for many years. The pull factors from developed countries make the push factors in the home country more evident, leaving the latter depleted of educated human resources. It is particularly true in rural communities in Haiti. The researcher aimed to understand the causes through a community-based series of interviews, focus groups, and narratives. Participants expressed their views on the phenomenon and proposed workable ways to deal with their community’s brain drain issue. The interview questions were open-ended and semiformal, affording participants the liberty to freely express their opinions. During focus group sessions, individuals told their stories while answering guided questions from the researcher. Two narratives illustrated the potential of returnees to help in the transformation of conditions in communities. The study found brain drain to be a phenomenal fact in the targeted community and the country. The causes and their impact, as observed by participants, were evident, and participants shared ideas reported in chapter 5 of this paper on how to address the issue

    Schooling as a field of practice: Exploring teacher pedagogy and student learning in private secondary classrooms in the Republic of Guinea

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    This empirical qualitative research contextually examines teacher pedagogy and student learning in classroom interactional practices in Guinea. It adopts a sociocultural perspective drawing from the theories of Bourdieu and Bernstein in the analysis of data collected from sixty-one participants in three secondary schools and two teacher’s colleges in the regions of Labe and Conakry. The results build upon the work of Bierschenk in ‘State at work in West Africa,’ and suggest that teachers act more as interface pedagogical agents in negotiating with the pressure of multiple tensions inherent to their practices. These include the competing interests of a heterogeneous body of pedagogical agents; contradictions internal to the national education policy in that, in theory, it desires an emancipatory education end served by Learner-Centred Education (LCE) methods, yet in practice, its bureaucratic structures and strong power relations create objective conditions conducive to a Bernsteinian performance pedagogy; and practical imperatives including resource limitations and large class sizes. Linked to their individual and collective habitus, teachers adopt a ‘defensive teaching strategy’ through lecture (L), teacher-led dialogue (TLD), bureaucratic procedural teaching (BPT), quizzes, problem-solving and individual and group assignment methods to meet various pedagogical expectations and secure their positions. These practices influence students’ perspectives about learning as conformity with expectations for academic success. Based on their context, many teachers and students commonly value learning as apprenticeship. The research concludes that teachers could be better partners in closing the gap for successful LCE pedagogical experiences if trained and empowered as interface pedagogical agents in light of the field’s realities. The wider implications of these findings include certain conditions for the applicability of Bernstein’s concept of competence pedagogy in Guinea and similar contexts, and the international policy imperative of learner-centred education

    Villages et quartiers à risque d’abandon

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    The issue of villages and neighborhoods at risk of abandonment is a common topic in many Mediterranean regions and is considered as a strategic point of the new European policies. The progressive abandonment of inland areas, with phenomena of emigration and fragmentation of cultural heritage, is a common trend in countries characterized by economic underdevelopment. This leads to the decay of architectural artifacts and buildings and problems with land management. Some aspects of this issue are also found in several urban areas. The goal of this research work is collecting international debates, discussions, opinions and comparisons concerning the analysis, study, surveys, diagnoses and graphical rendering of architectural heritage and landscape as well as demo-ethno-anthropological witnesses, typological-constructive stratifications, materials and technologies of traditional and vernacular constructions of historic buildings

    The Proceedings of the 23rd Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research (DGO2022) Intelligent Technologies, Governments and Citizens June 15-17, 2022

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    The 23rd Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research theme is “Intelligent Technologies, Governments and Citizens”. Data and computational algorithms make systems smarter, but should result in smarter government and citizens. Intelligence and smartness affect all kinds of public values - such as fairness, inclusion, equity, transparency, privacy, security, trust, etc., and is not well-understood. These technologies provide immense opportunities and should be used in the light of public values. Society and technology co-evolve and we are looking for new ways to balance between them. Specifically, the conference aims to advance research and practice in this field. The keynotes, presentations, posters and workshops show that the conference theme is very well-chosen and more actual than ever. The challenges posed by new technology have underscored the need to grasp the potential. Digital government brings into focus the realization of public values to improve our society at all levels of government. The conference again shows the importance of the digital government society, which brings together scholars in this field. Dg.o 2022 is fully online and enables to connect to scholars and practitioners around the globe and facilitate global conversations and exchanges via the use of digital technologies. This conference is primarily a live conference for full engagement, keynotes, presentations of research papers, workshops, panels and posters and provides engaging exchange throughout the entire duration of the conference

    Volume II Acquisition Research Creating Synergy for Informed Change, Thursday 19th Annual Acquisition Research Proceedings

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    ProceedingsApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

    Assuming Data Integrity and Empirical Evidence to The Contrary

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    Background: Not all respondents to surveys apply their minds or understand the posed questions, and as such provide answers which lack coherence, and this threatens the integrity of the research. Casual inspection and limited research of the 10-item Big Five Inventory (BFI-10), included in the dataset of the World Values Survey (WVS), suggested that random responses may be common. Objective: To specify the percentage of cases in the BRI-10 which include incoherent or contradictory responses and to test the extent to which the removal of these cases will improve the quality of the dataset. Method: The WVS data on the BFI-10, measuring the Big Five Personality (B5P), in South Africa (N=3 531), was used. Incoherent or contradictory responses were removed. Then the cases from the cleaned-up dataset were analysed for their theoretical validity. Results: Only 1 612 (45.7%) cases were identified as not including incoherent or contradictory responses. The cleaned-up data did not mirror the B5P- structure, as was envisaged. The test for common method bias was negative. Conclusion: In most cases the responses were incoherent. Cleaning up the data did not improve the psychometric properties of the BFI-10. This raises concerns about the quality of the WVS data, the BFI-10, and the universality of B5P-theory. Given these results, it would be unwise to use the BFI-10 in South Africa. Researchers are alerted to do a proper assessment of the psychometric properties of instruments before they use it, particularly in a cross-cultural setting

    Work and Climate Change Report 2011-2021 (PDF)

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    This PDF copy of the WCCR website is one long textual document containing every post from the website's 10-year existence (September 2011 - December 2021). It is captured in this way to allow for text-searching and retrieval of relevant posts

    Geotechnical Engineering for the Preservation of Monuments and Historic Sites III

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    The conservation of monuments and historic sites is one of the most challenging problems facing modern civilization. It involves, in inextricable patterns, factors belonging to different fields (cultural, humanistic, social, technical, economical, administrative) and the requirements of safety and use appear to be (or often are) in conflict with the respect of the integrity of the monuments. The complexity of the topic is such that a shared framework of reference is still lacking among art historians, architects, structural and geotechnical engineers. The complexity of the subject is such that a shared frame of reference is still lacking among art historians, architects, architectural and geotechnical engineers. And while there are exemplary cases of an integral approach to each building element with its static and architectural function, as a material witness to the culture and construction techniques of the original historical period, there are still examples of uncritical reliance on modern technology leading to the substitution from earlier structures to new ones, preserving only the iconic look of the original monument. Geotechnical Engineering for the Preservation of Monuments and Historic Sites III collects the contributions to the eponymous 3rd International ISSMGE TC301 Symposium (Naples, Italy, 22-24 June 2022). The papers cover a wide range of topics, which include:   - Principles of conservation, maintenance strategies, case histories - The knowledge: investigations and monitoring - Seismic risk, site effects, soil structure interaction - Effects of urban development and tunnelling on built heritage - Preservation of diffuse heritage: soil instability, subsidence, environmental damages The present volume aims at geotechnical engineers and academics involved in the preservation of monuments and historic sites worldwide
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