Testing ZELPH ['sɛlf] – a self-assessment instrument to surface intended and unintended outcomes of work-integrating pedagogies

This paper's twofold purpose is, first, to present ZELPH ['sɛlf], a self-assessment instrument that enables those developing the pedagogy of work-integrating study programmes in higher education (HE) systematically to surface the intended and unintended outcomes of their programme's approach to integrating professional practice into an academic course. Secondly, the paper reports on a small pilot study with programme staff from five different HE institutions in various countries who tested ZELPH. Design/methodology/approach ZELPH operationalises aspects of key theories on work-integrating learning pedagogy, and thereby enables a simplified depiction of the reality of combining classroom-based and worksite-based learning. Programme staff from Germany, the United Kingdom, France, South Africa and Taiwan applied the instrument to their respective work-integrating study programmes and evaluated its perceived value and feasibility. Findings The findings suggest that ZELPH offers value as a practical instrument, in particular to those less familiar with developing work-integrating learning pedagogy as well as to those keen to compare programmes across national, cultural and institutional contexts. Originality/value ZELPH contributes to addressing the lack of practically applicable instruments to support the design and international benchmarking of work-integrating learning pedagogy in HE

Homo subjectivus: shoehorning customer-centric reform into the subjectivities of Abu Dhabi's public administrators

Public administrators are the people who not only administer public services, but who are also expected to carry out reform and to embed 'new ways of doing things' in the machinery and mentality of public sector organisations. Yet, research has shown that, in pursuing change initiatives, due attention is rarely paid to how public administrators feel, think and make meaning. As a direct consequence, public administrative reforms frequently disappoint by failing to generate the promised positive results. Hence, this thesis explores the nebulous phenomenon of subjective meaning-making in the context of Abu Dhabi Government's customercentric reform. This is accomplished in two practical steps: Firstly, the study employs Q Methodology to identify five viewpoints that different groups of public administrators share: (1) The benefactor's epic fail, (2) Managerialism in modern Arabiya, (3) Triumph of the cherished patriarch, (4) The traditional ways of the Bedouins, and (5) The reign of formulas over culture. In the second step, a Cultural Reference Group drills down into each shared viewpoint to reveal group-specific knowledge structures, or collective schemata. The study discovers that content schemata and context schemata interact with situational influencers in producing shared viewpoints, and a socio-cognitive model is proposed to illuminate these processes. The findings contribute to an understanding of the subjective constructions that public administrators share at group-level, and how these impact ou the opportunities for meaningful reform

Zur zielgerichteten Einbindung des Lernorts Praxis in das Hochschulstudium

Dieser Sammelband nimmt die wissenschaftliche Weiterbildung und die damit verbundenen Entwicklungen an deutschen Hochschulen in den Blick. Die Forschungsarbeiten der wissenschaftlichen Begleitung des Bund-Länder-Wettbewerbs „Aufstieg durch Bildung: offene Hochschulen“ adressieren dabei in einem Mix aus quantitativen und qualitativen Zugängen den Bund-Länder-Wettbewerb sowie die nationale Ebene und stellen internationale Bezüge her. Die Beiträge geben erste empirische Antworten u. a. auf Fragen nach den Bedarfen heterogener Zielgruppen, der Verzahnung von Theorie und Praxis, der Lehrmotivation von Lehrenden und dem nachhaltigen Transfer von Projektergebnissen in die Hochschulen. Eine Rahmung erfolgt einleitend durch eine Bestandsaufnahme zu Weiterbildung als hochschulischer Kernaufgabe und eine Zusammenschau zentraler Entwicklungstrends aus neun Jahren Bund-Länder-Wettbewerb sowie abschließend durch Beobachtungen zur internationalen Sichtbarkeit von wissenschaftlicher Weiterbildung und einen Ausblick auf mögliche zukünftige Entwicklungen

An analysis of Clifford Geertz's: The interpretation of cultures. Selected essays:Book Series: The Macat Library

Clifford Geertz has been called ‘the most original anthropologist of his generation’ – and this reputation rests largely on the huge contributions to the methodology and approaches of anthropological interpretation that he outlined in The Interpretation of Cultures. The book charts the Clifford Geertz's influences and ideas, and the impact of his life's work

Zur zielgerichteten Einbindung des Lernorts Praxis in das Hochschulstudium

Dieser Sammelband nimmt die wissenschaftliche Weiterbildung und die damit verbundenen Entwicklungen an deutschen Hochschulen in den Blick. Die Forschungsarbeiten der wissenschaftlichen Begleitung des Bund-Länder-Wettbewerbs „Aufstieg durch Bildung: offene Hochschulen“ adressieren dabei in einem Mix aus quantitativen und qualitativen Zugängen den Bund-Länder-Wettbewerb sowie die nationale Ebene und stellen internationale Bezüge her. Die Beiträge geben erste empirische Antworten u. a. auf Fragen nach den Bedarfen heterogener Zielgruppen, der Verzahnung von Theorie und Praxis, der Lehrmotivation von Lehrenden und dem nachhaltigen Transfer von Projektergebnissen in die Hochschulen. Eine Rahmung erfolgt einleitend durch eine Bestandsaufnahme zu Weiterbildung als hochschulischer Kernaufgabe und eine Zusammenschau zentraler Entwicklungstrends aus neun Jahren Bund-Länder-Wettbewerb sowie abschließend durch Beobachtungen zur internationalen Sichtbarkeit von wissenschaftlicher Weiterbildung und einen Ausblick auf mögliche zukünftige Entwicklungen

The contribution of case studies to conceptualising the implementation of work-integrating higher education

The implementation of work-integrating higher education programmes poses a challenge for universities worldwide. Given the lack of all-encompassing theoretical frameworks that consider pedagogic, institutional, structural and cultural dimensions, the onus lies on individual universities, if not faculties and departments, to develop their very own, uniquely tailored approaches to implementing work-integrating HE programmes. This paper reports on an international good practice case study research project that examined the successful implementation of work-integrating educational offers in the US, England and Denmark. Based on the empirical evidence of the case studies, the paper proposes four key factors that drive transformation and generate positive results. Following the assessment of our cases study design against Ridder’s (2017) framework on the contribution of case studies to formulating theory, the article argues that our research design was rigorous and aptly fitted the aimed contribution to theory, and that our findings contribute to building tentative conceptual building blocks for the implementation of work-integrating H

An analysis of Clifford Geertz's: The interpretation of cultures. Selected essays:Book Series: The Macat Library

Clifford Geertz has been called ‘the most original anthropologist of his generation’ – and this reputation rests largely on the huge contributions to the methodology and approaches of anthropological interpretation that he outlined in The Interpretation of Cultures. The book charts the Clifford Geertz's influences and ideas, and the impact of his life's work

Democracy, governance and participation:Epistemic colonialism in public administration and governance courses

A major challenge in Public Administration and Management courses is the persistent neo-colonial approach to teaching about the concepts of democracy, “effective” public participation and “good” governance from the normative basis of Western liberal democratic theory. The chapter develops its argument for an increasingly decolonial approach to teaching by shedding light on the plurality of governance settings that exist in the world, and the place and contribution of democracy and public participation within these contexts. Following that, the chapter briefly considers the formation of “legitimate” knowledge in Public Administration and Management courses, and highlights the adverse impacts that the epistemic exclusion of non-Western knowledge continues to have. The chapter concludes by outlining the imperative of decolonising education through deconstructing and reconstructing concepts, such as democratic governance and “effective” public participation, and delineating first steps for an increasingly pluralistic approach to teaching and learning that recognises the “situationality” of all students