Investigating students’ perspectives of learning and participating in seminars using a Bourdieuian perspective

The purpose of this paper is to examine how Vygotsky's and Bourdieu's theoretical perspectives contributed to the insights I gained about student teachers’ perceptions of seminars and my role as a seminar tutor. The paper is based on the findings from a doctoral study into students’ perspectives of learning and participating in seminars. Using a constructive grounded theory approach, I interviewed five 2nd year teacher education students and consulted relevant institutional documents. From a Vygotskian perspective, the data highlighted the complexity and dynamic nature of seminars where relationships, pedagogical tools and artefacts played an important meditational role. By highlighting the significance of the wider context, however, Bourdieu’s theory of practice and in particular his concept of symbolic violence gave a richer perspective of participants’ perspectives of seminars. In particular, by drawing attention to the impact of dominant discourses on individuals' practices, it provided a more nuanced view about the meanings they attached to their seminar experiences, and enabled a deeper reflection about my own practice and values as a tutor/lecturer in higher education

Preliminary Evaluation of the Risk of Accidental Spills of Hazardous Materials in Illinois Waterways

HWRIC Project 89/90-059NTIS PB91-20877

Patterns of Eye Diseases in Children Visiting a Tertiary Teaching Hospital: South-Western Ethiopia

Background: About 19 million children worldwide live with visual impairments resulting from different ocular morbidities. This study aimed to identify the different causes of eye diseases in children visiting a tertiary eye centre at Jimma University Hospital.Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of charts of patients of <16 years of age who presented to Jimma University, Department of Ophthalmology (JUDO,) between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010. Data on age, sex, final diagnosis and treatments were collected and analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Ratios, percentages and associations were calculated, interpreted and discussed. P-values below 0.05 were considered statistically significant.Results: Three-hundred-eighty children were seen at JUDO in the year 2010, most of them repeatedly. We evaluated the reports of 341 children (53% males). Children aged 11–15 years constituted the largest group (37%). The commonest childhood ocular diseases diagnosed in 2010 were ocular surface and eyelid infections (30.5%), ocular allergies (28.1%), ocular traumas and injuries (15.5%) and refractive errors (5.8%). Avoidable eye diseases accounted for about 97% of ocular morbidities.Conclusion: Infectious causes of childhood ocular diseases are the major reasons of visits of children seen at the Eye Department. Most of the ocular morbidities in children during the study year were either treatable or preventable. Further study on childhood eye diseases at community level is required to design proper preventive and curative strategies for childhood eye diseases in the region.Keywords: Childhood eye diseases, visual impairment, Jimma, Ethiopi

Barriers to Socio-economic Opportunities in Africa: An e-Government Perspective

Various barriers to socio-economic opportunities in Africa are explored though e-Government as a lens of study. Using grounded theory methodology, scholarly literature on e-Government in Africa has been analyzed to model various barriers. The research is expected to serve as a scholarly reference for decision-makers in the private and the public sector organizations, as well as policymakers, for making decisions about design, development and execution of e-Government initiatives in Africa

Promoting student teachers' reflective thinking through a philosophical community of enquiry approach

This article outlines how student teachers’ experiences of a philosophical community of enquiry (PCoE) facilitated their pedagogical reflections. Although reflection occupies an important place in teacher education curricula and pedagogy, it is a contested and problematic concept. In this study, a group of second year student teachers took part in a module based on Matthew Lipman's Philosophy for Children (P4C) programme, designed to improve children’s thinking through a PCoE. Using data from a series of reflective activities and an in-depth interview, I examined if and how student teachers’ experiences of PCoE facilitated their readiness to reflect on pedagogical concepts such as the role of dialogue and inquiry in learning. The findings show that most had reconsidered/questioned their views, suggesting that giving student teachers experience of PCoE type of learning contexts could open up alternative ways of promoting reflection. The findings from this practitioner enquiry provide teacher educators with useful insights into the potential of a PCoE approach/orientation for promoting student teachers’ reflective thinking

‘Student teachers' perceptions of seminar learning contexts in ITE (initial teacher education)

This paperoutlines how examining student teachers’ perceptionsof the use of seminars in HE led to reflections about the role and significance of seminars in initial teachereducation (ITE). Whilst thegeneric literatureon student learningprovides useful insights about how they approach their learning and tutors’teaching strategies, we know little about students,and in particular student teachers’1perceptions of seminars (a learning context that can nurture important HE attributes such as reflection, reasoning and judgement). The study focuses on student teachers and reportsonthe findings from a series of in-depth interviews withfivesecond year undergraduate primary teacher education student teachersin a post-1992 English university. Their accounts present seminars as rich and multi-layered learning contexts that draw on their peers’, tutors’and families’practices,and characterised by instrumentalist judgementsabout the extent to which seminars ‘enabled’ or ‘disabled’ participation and teacher preparation. This paper's contribution is in problematising seminars, a common learning context for student teachers, and highlighting the ways in which the studyled to pedagogical reflections about the purpose,value and potential of university-based seminars for teacher preparation.KeywordsSeminars; perceptions; student teachers;context; reflection; theory/practice.IntroductionThis paper is an accountofhowthe renewed emphasis on student teachers' reflection ininitialteacher education(ITE)(DELNI, 2014; DfE, 2015; Khortagen et al., 2001) led to pedagogical reflectionsabout seminars’role in promoting student teachers’ reflections. The emerging international consensus that teacher quality has the biggest impacton children’s educational outcomes has led to new initiatives for student teachers’ training and education (Hulme et al, 2013). A significant change is the ‘practicum turn’(Burns & Mutton, 2010); a policy shift to devolve much of teacher educationinto schools as evidenced in England’s School Direct programme (DfE, 2011; McLean Davies et al., 2013). Behind this shift is policy makers’ view that students make little use of what they learn at university (Hodson, 2003 in Smith & Hodson, 2010)and that teacher education has failed to preparethem for classroom realities (Burns & Mutton, 2013; McLean Davies et al., 2013; Kessels&Korthagen 1999). It is also due to the increasing recognition of classroom teachers’ practice knowledgeand the desire to give student teachers access to teachers’ tacit knowledge (Khortagen et al.,2001).The ‘practicum turn’ and its implicationsfor student teachers, schools and teacher educators is nonetheless, widely debated. Some have prioritised an ‘apprentice’ perspective (a view that 1The term 'student teacher' is used to refer to those undertaking a teaching degree although 'student' is sometimes used for stylistic purposes. All other references to 'students' refer to those on non-teaching degrees

Hazardous Waste Management by healthcare Institutions, Addis Ababa: Implementation of laws and regulation

A study regarding healthcare institution waste management and practical implementation of laws and regulation was conducted in selected hospitals of Addis Ababa during the period of 2012/13. The entire healthcare system generates non-hazardous and hazardous wastes during healthcare processes. Therefore, this study focuses on assessment of the hazardous waste management of healthcare institutions in Addis Ababa and implementation of laws and regulation. Interview, questionnaire, and observations were employed to collect primary data whereas secondary data were collected from statutory organizations. For the study four hospitals were randomly selected. To analyze the data percentage and narration were used. The finding of the study shows that except Zewditu hospital, the rest use proper management to the hazardous waste. Lack of awareness about health hazards of healthcare waste, inadequate training, absence of waste management and disposal systems, insufficient financial and human resources, low priority given to the topic and lack of aware about legislative act are the most common problems connected with healthcare waste management. Therefore, efforts have to be exerted on creating awareness about internationally ratified conventions, the existing related laws and the regulations of healthcare waste management that are produced in regional and national level.Key words: Healthcare, Hazardous, Incinerator, Regulations, Awareness, Safety Bo

An assessment of the factors influencing inventory control: the case of Population Services International Ethiopia

The purpose of this study was to assess the factors influencing inventory control in Population Services International Ethiopia. The various factor influencing inventory control were broken into bureaucratic procurement procedure, carrying cost ,stock audit practice ,stock record practice and staff skill & experience. The particular objective that were analyzed include; evaluation of the effects of procurement procedure to the effectiveness of inventory control, examination of the effect of high inventory carrying cost to the effectiveness of inventory control, determination of the effects of stock audit practices to the effectiveness of Inventory control, analysis of the effects of poor stock record practice to effectiveness of inventory control, and examination of the effects of staff skill & experience to the effectiveness of inventory control. The research adopted descriptive study design. A stratified random sampling technique was applied to the study. The researcher used a sample size of 30% of the target population to act as the sample size. The researcher used questionnaire to collect data for the research. The questionnaire contained open and closed ended questions and five point Likert scale questions and covered areas of inventory control to come up with good raw data for the research. The collected data were quantitatively analyzed using statistical methods such as SPSS which was commanded to produce frequency tables, graphs and pie charts for effective interpretation. The key findings from the study revealed that: delays in procurement of goods, frequent stock-outs and no use of mathematical model were some of the effects of long bureaucratic procurement procedure. According to the study, some products were over stocked, expired, damage and obsolete that eventually increase carrying cost were some of the effects in inventory control. The study revealed that lack of specific time or date for stock taking exercise and discrepancies between actual and physical stock balances were some of the effects of stock audit practice. The study also revealed that unavailability of fully computerized system all over the organization, lack of specific time or date for posting stock records, lack of adequately trained staff hinders effective performance of the organization. The researcher recommends that cumbersome rules and reliance on rigid rules and policies that slow down procurement process should be avoided; current inventory control practices and procedures need to be reviewed and redesigned. The management should stay up-to-date on inventory carrying cost. Only qualified and adequately trained personnel should be involved in stock control