Improving work organisation - the case for a regional action programme

A policy think piece to inform the development of the 2006 Regional Economic Strategy on how adoption of modern work organisation/high performance working practices could improve skills utilisation in the context of the 'low pay low skills equilibrium' in the East Midlands

Think Piece. Learning to think differently

If I have correctly interpreted the intentions of the organisers, the concern of the 2007 World Environmental Education Congress is not learning for accommodation to the dominant direction of change in the world today. It is rather a concern for learning to challenge the direction of this change, for learning how to visualise an entirely different trajectory, and for learning the skills and developing the courage needed to pursue such a vision effectively. By the term ‘dominant direction of change’ I refer, of course, to the cumulative and ever-accelerating effects of economic globalisation, social disintegration and ecological destruction that go by the names of ‘development’, ‘modernisation’ and ‘trade liberalisation’. Education in support of this dominant direction of change aims at producing a standardised, technically-competent and pliant individual for global business and a mass of enthusiastic consumers. Most educational scholars today participate in parts of the existing educational system that promotes this agenda, be it school or university. We are all products of this system and we work within it. Hence our thinking is often circumscribed by the assumptions underlying that agenda. Addressing the 2007 World Environmental Education Congress theme ‘Learning in a Changing World’ more thoughtfully (as was the invitation for submission of these ‘Think Pieces’ for the Southern African Journal of Environmental Education), however, signals our intention to question these assumptions. In effect, environmental educators have been questioning the assumptions of mainstream contemporary global culture for the past three decades. We broadly agree among ourselves that environmental education and education for sustainable development are, above all, about ‘learning to think differently about the world and ourselves’. But what exactly does this phrase mean? What is involved in learning to think differently? In my opinion, we have not yet really come to grips with these questions

Think Piece. Education, Environment and Sustainability

The appearance of environmental issues in the epistemological horizon of scientific disciplines has constituted a veritable revolution, in the same way as linguistics gave a new sense and created new subject matter in the social sciences in the middle of the 20th century. The study of the environment in its connotation of ‘Nature’ has been part of school curricula and scientific research for a very long time. The qualitative difference in how environmental issues are now dealt with in education and scientific research has been influenced by, on the one hand, the momentum gained by environmental issues resulting from industrialisation, followed by globalisation. Industrialisation and globalisation have revealed a previously unheard of magnitude and complexity of environmental issues, two aspects that due to the type and depth of knowledge available previously, had not been adequately pondered. On the other hand, the political, economic, social and even philosophical (ethic, aesthetic, epistemological, ontological, etc.) dimensions now associated with environmental phenomena have gone way beyond what could have been expected when the first critiques and cries of alarm about environmental issues were raised. These early warnings on the methods of increasing productivity (Rachel Carson); the models of industrial production and occidental lifestyles (Barry Commoner and Fritz Schumacher); the loss of and tragedy of the commons (Garrett Hardin); and exponential demographic growth (Paul Ehrlich and Donella Meadows), are only a few of the better known (not in chronological order)

Reconsidering the Value

This article is a think piece that asks educators to reexamine ideas around outcomes of visual arts programs.  The view that the value of a visual arts education consists primarily in transferrable skills, defined as those valued by business, is, the author suggests, not the appropriate metric.  Instead, a number of outcomes are presented and rationalized

Think Piece: Action Competence through Ethno-Geography

Climate change is due to the accelerated greenhouse effect caused by modern Western ways of living, in which factors like the burning of fossil fuels for energy and the high consumption of beef are perceived to be an essential part of living, but which emit increasing levels of greenhouse gases (e.g. carbon dioxide [CO2] and methane) into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases prevent long-wave radiation from escaping the Earth’s atmosphere, thus causing a rise in the global temperature. People living in different places around the world may or may not experience the various consequences of this temperature rise in their daily lives. Depending on where one lives, these consequences might range from extended droughts to an increased number and intensity of storms, precipitation and flooding. This two-sided problem, people’s modern way of living influencing the global climate and their living conditions in turn being highly influenced by climate changes, is exemplary for the subject of Geography, which is about humans’ interaction with nature (Physical Geography)

'From 'wickedity' to tameness? Reflections on the application of critical realism to researching higher education'

This presentation and short paper is jointly authored and draws on the reflections and experiences of two researchers in South African and English higher education contexts in which they teach. Responding to Trowler’s (2009: 1) Think Piece, the authors examine their ‘application of theory to close up research’, explicating their experiences of undertaking research influenced and guided by the ontological meta-theory of critical realism, both to steer methodology and illuminate analysis during their doctoral research

Asset Thresholds and Social Protection: A ‘Think?Piece’

The dedication of this issue of the IDS Bulletin to social protection testifies to the topic’s increasing importance in development discourse and policy. Holzmann et al. (2003) describe the rise of social protection within the World Bank. They trace its rise at least in part to th

Think Piece: Reflection on the First Year Experience

The invitation to contribute a short reflective piece on the policy and practice of the first year experience is a welcome, if challenging, task. The complex set of personal, social and academic factors involved in successful progression through the first year of tertiary education provide ample scope for commentary and debate. Thus, drawing upon my own research focus and interests, and my experience of working with first year students and those who teach them, this commentary is centred in the need for care in recognising and defining the “First Year Experience”

Quality of life, well-being and regional economic development: a thought piece

This think piece, sets out the case that the next round of Regional Economic Strategies (RESs) produced by RDAs, should explicitly make quality of life and well-being the organising principles at the heart of their visions and their strategies. An explicit focus on people’s quality of life potentially offers rigorous methodologies for differentiating between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ growth. In addition enhancing people’s well-being will support RDAs in successfully achieving their goals regarding enterprise, investment, skills, productivity and sustainable communities