A case study of system change and the influence of change agents : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Education at Massey University

The education system in Papua New Guinea over a three year period, underwent a massive re-organization that was unique in both its scope and the speed with which it was accomplished. The change from a highly centralized, fragmented system of education to a decentralized system that catered for all agencies involved in education, was proposed, legislated and implemented without being motivated by major social crises or revolutionary demands for change. Studies of change and innovation in education over the past decade, have tended to emphasize quantitative studies with fewer theoretical studies and very few case histories, particularly of developing countries. Much literature on change and innovation is highly technical in language and tends to regard change as an industrial process. There has been a tendency to neglect the historical, political and social framework within which change and innovations operate. The aim of this study was to provide a case study approach to the conditions and factors that motivated the change process of the innovation. Educational innovation as a complex subject, must be studied at several levels. This study examined the innovation at the level of the individuals involved in changing others and interviewed a sample of the identifiable principal change agents, to analyse the techniques or strategies used to implement the change. The interviews were also designed to provide a storehouse of data for future research. The data generally demonstrated that the initiative for change in this instance came from within the educational structure rather than from outside which is a significant departure from previous case study findings. The Chief Administrator of the Papua New Guinea education system, emerged as the decisive figure who significantly directed and influenced the change process. External experts were used as legitimizing agents to make the structural innovation acceptable to resisters within Papua New Guinea and to the Australian Government. Strategies employed by the principal change agents were generally collaborative in style, however, conflict situations were creatively utilized on occasions to reach a change goal. Absence of transactional influence was observed only rarely. The implications of the study for further research were discussed. The transcripts of interviews provide an invaluable base for research into future quantitative studies particularly one critical issue identified by all change agents. This centres around the conflict between the Teaching Service Commission, the Department of Education and to a lesser extent the Minister for Education, which, in having its origins in the initial innovation, will affect the ultimate survival of the Papua New Guinea education system in its planned form

Community of philosophical inquiry : citizenship in Scottish classrooms

The context for the study is the current curriculum reform in Scotland (Curriculum for Excellence) which demands that teachers enable children to become ‘Responsible Citizens’. Education for Citizenship, as opposed to Citizenship Education, in Scotland is not a discrete subject; the objective is that citizenship permeates everything that happens throughout school, academically and socially. It is centrally situated alongside children becoming ‘effective contributors’, ‘successful learners’ and ‘confident individuals’. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the use of Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CoPI) as a pedagogical tool to enhance citizenship attributes in Scottish children in a range of educational settings. In order, first, to get an insight into the teachers’ perspectives on the Education for Citizenship agenda in Scotland, the teachers were asked for their definitions of ‘citizen’. Similarly, the children were also asked about their notion of ‘citizen’. The children’s group betrayed a more political understanding of ‘citizen’ than the teachers. Before and after an extended series of CoPI sessions, the 133 participating children from the ages of five to eighteen, in formal and informal educational contexts, were presented with dilemmas designed to elicit responses which indicated their ability to make, what Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Executive, 2004) would describe as ‘informed choices and decisions and to articulate informed, ethical views of complex issues’. The sessions were facilitated by class teachers who were trained in CoPI. The results indicate that children’s reason giving was enhanced by participation in CoPI. The article uses contributions from the children to highlight areas of their lives within school and in society beyond school, where doing philosophy has had an impact. The implications both for education for citizenship and the potential of Philosophy with Children to contribute to an enhanced school curriculum will also be discussed

Re St Vincent\u27s Guest House and CUPE, Loc 1082

The union alleges that the employer breached the collective agreement between the parties effective January 1, 1989 to December 31, 1990, and in particular art. 13.01, Seniority. The union requests that the grievor be granted the position in question and compensated for any lost income which resulted from the alleged breach

Aspects of Postharvest Quality Required by Papua New Guinea Sweet Potato Consumers in the Main Port Moresby Markets

Sweet potato (known locally as kaukau) is a major subsistence crop grown in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and sold in local and coastal cities such as Lae and Port Moresby (POM). As farmers transition from subsistence to commercial farming, it is very important for them to know what quality the market (consumers) require. With this knowledge, farmers can prepare their produce for the appropriate market (local or coastal city). This paper reports on the sizes that POM consumers require of fresh sweet potato based on samples purchased from 3 to 5 open markets in POM on 3 sample dates. Within each market, we randomly selected sweet potato from 2, 5, and 10 kina (PNG currency) heaps that sellers had constructed, approximately 3–5 heaps per market. The sweet potatoes were bagged, labelled, and brought to the laboratory in POM for measurements of the minimum diameter, maximum diameter, length, counts of root number per heap, and weight of the heaps. Calculations were made of price per kg and mean root weight in each heap. Results showed the K5 and K10 heaps contained larger sweet potato (diameter, length, and weight) than the K2 heaps and suggests in POM, the fresh sweet potato market prefers a medium-sized sweet potato (165–187 mm, 282–464 g). The smaller roots were sold in the K2 heaps. Although all sizes of sweet potato are marketable, for highland farmers to make a sustainable business from sending sweet potato to POM, it is the medium-sized sweet potato they should be grading and packing on farm and shipping without delay

A Socio-Economic Analysis of the Factors Affecting Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Good Quality Sweet Potato in Papua New Guinea

The increasing interest in health and nutrition has enhanced demand for quality of food products and subsequent desire by consumers to pay premiums for food quality. This study examines the influence of socio-economic and product quality attributes on consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for good quality sweet potato in Papua New Guinea. Information collected from 356 randomly selected consumers from the capital city of Port Moresby is used in this study. Using a structured pretested questionnaire, the survey was conducted in different pre-identified market locations based on the results of initial reconnaissance survey, market survey, and inputs from market experts. Using a two-step double hurdle model, we estimate the determinants of the discrete willingness-to-pay decision and the premiums consumers are willing to pay for good quality sweet potato. Of the total number of consumers, 80% were willing to pay a premium for good quality attributes in sweet potato. On average, consumers are willing to pay a premium of 2.22 kinas per kg with a minimum of 0.96 kinas per kg and a maximum of 3.47 kinas per kg. The premiums consumers were willing to pay are influenced by factors such as education, place of origin (highland regions), number of years the household has been living in Port Moresby, as well as other quality attributes such as the physical appearance of the roots (freshness, cleanliness, shape, and size), maturity of roots, and the sweet taste. Our results highlight two important implications: the importance of improving the quality of sweet potato by incorporating good quality attributes into research and development of new or improved varieties that meet consumer demand, and consideration of various factors in developing interventions in the sweet potato industry to enhance incomes of different stakeholders

Understanding Market Demand for Sweet Potato in Papua New Guinea

Sweet potato is the most important food crop in Papua New Guinea, grown by the majority of households throughout the country. In recent years, it has become an important source of income for smallholder farmers in a developing market economy at a time when demand is rising in urban centers, especially in coastal cities such as Lae and Port Moresby (POM). A transformation from subsistence to commercial farming requires new skills and a change of mindsets from production orientation to market orientation. A starting point is better understanding of what the market wants. The objective of the study was to understand the market requirements in POM of both consumers and institutional buyers through a consumer survey (350 households) and informant interviews (25 institutional buyers), respectively. The results show that while the demand for sweet potato is increasing in some segments of the POM market, rice poses a serious threat to the longer-term prospects of the sweet potato sector. Furthermore, the majority of consumers surveyed indicate a clear preference for some sweet potato varieties and associated product attributes, but lack of product information leads to confusion and high search costs. By contrast, institutional buyers demand good quality products and consistency in supply. The conclusion is that the sweet potato sector must improve its product quality and supply consistency, as well as reduce the marketing cost, in order to compete with rice and other food crops by changing their current postharvest and marketing practices

Using philosophical inquiry to support vulnerable young people's identities and transitions

This paper shares initial findings from a Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CoPI) project offered to young people within a secure residential setting in order that they might develop the confidence and skills that will be useful to their lives and that will be transferable to the wider community on leaving the Centre. Secure residential settings such as the Centre where the study takes place are reserved for young people who have committed serious crimes. The outcomes for individuals leaving secure care are extremely poor. Addressing such difficulties whilst in secure care is complex and requires a range of interventions. In this project, CoPI is used as a unique approach to augment other strategies used in the Centre in helping to address complex needs such as emotional and physical neglect and/or abuse, trauma, and personal behaviour that have placed the young people and others at considerable risk. Evidence will demonstrate whether participation supports them to communicate more effectively and build better relationships with others. These aspects are often acutely limited for young people who have been placed in secure accommodation and CoPI offers them opportunities to think about their own wellbeing, including issues of safety and risk. Given the vulnerability of the young people, there is increasing pressure on staff in such settings to operate from evidence-based practice and it is hoped that this project supports their work

Fostering teachers' understanding of leadership through a programme of professional learning

This article examines the implementation of a programme of professional learning, designed to support understanding of school leadership in a school that sought to effect change through teachers’ professional learning. Working with a university-based tutor who adopted a responsive approach, participants shaped the programme over a seven-month period. The evidence is presented from teachers’ reflections on leadership, observations of the sessions, and post-programme interviews. The evidence is presented under six themes, which emerged through an iterative process of content analysis, as follows: the individual versus community; relationships; culture; reflection; emotions; and impact/action. Participants indicated their understanding of leadership had evolved over the course of the programme. This led to a more collegiate and collaborative approach being welcomed, where leadership at all levels was valued. They considered that this was achieved largely through having opportunities to engage in professional dialogue with peers, which was normally seen as difficult given day-to-day priorities

Terminology of Geological Time: Establishment of a Community Standard

It has been recommended that geological time be described in a single set of terms and according to metric or SI (“Système International d’Unités”) standards, to ensure “worldwide unification of measurement”. While any effort to improve communication in scientific research and writing is to be encouraged, we are also concerned that fundamental differences between date and duration, in the way that our profession expresses geological time, would be lost in such an oversimplified terminology. In addition, no precise value for ‘year’ in the SI base unit of second has been accepted by the international bodies.Under any circumstances, however, it remains the fact that geological dates – as points in time – are not relevant to the SI. Known dates may define durations, just as known durations may define dates, or dates may simply be punctual references that support historical narratives, but dates are not quantities. Furthermore, dates, as datum points, belong to a specific type of guiding information that is in constant use not only by the disciplines that explore the unwritten past, but in the physical sciences and engineering as well. Accordingly, we recommend a new standardization of the distinction between geohistorical date, in years before present expressed in ‘annus’, symbol ‘a’,with the multiples ‘ka’, ‘Ma’, and ‘Ga’ for thousands, millions and billions of years ago, according to a convention that has been very widely adopted during the last 30 years, and geohistorical duration, expressed in ‘year’, symbol ‘yr’, with multiples ‘kyr’, ‘Myr’ and ‘Gyr’, respectively, as the most appropriate among the various formats in the current literature. Agreement on these two sets of terms throughout the wide community that deals with paleochronology would remove a false impression of improvisation and uncertainty as to appropriate terminology, and would lead to more effective communication in areas where a simplified but needlessly SI-conisistent terminology would be less, not more useful

Trade-offs in marine protection : Multi-species interactions within a community-led temperate marine reserve

This study investigated the effects of a community-led temperate marine reserve in Lamlash Bay, Firth of Clyde, Scotland, on commercially important populations of European lobster (Homarus gammarus), brown crab (Cancer pagurus), and velvet swimming crabs (Necora puber). Potting surveys conducted over 4 years revealed significantly higher catch per unit effort (cpue 109% greater), weight per unit effort (wpue 189% greater), and carapace length (10-15 mm greater) in lobsters within the reserve compared with control sites. However, likely due to low levels of recruitment and increased fishing effort outside the reserve, lobster catches decreased in all areas during the final 2 years. Nevertheless, catch rates remained higher within the reserve across all years, suggesting the reserve buffered these wider declines. Additionally, lobster cpue and wpue declined with increasing distance from the boundaries of the marine reserve, a trend which tag-recapture data suggested were due to spillover. Catches of berried lobster were also twice as high within the reserve than outside, and the mean potential reproductive output per female was 22.1% greater. It was originally thought that higher densities of lobster within the reserve might lead to greater levels of aggression and physical damage. However, damage levels were solely related to body size, as large lobsters >110 mm had sustained over 218% more damage than smaller individuals. Interestingly, catches of adult lobsters were inversely correlated with those of juvenile lobsters, brown crabs, and velvet crabs, which may be evidence of competitive displacement and/or predation. Our findings provide evidence that temperate marine reserves can deliver fisheries and conservation benefits, and highlight the importance of investigating multispecies interactions, as the recovery of some species can have knock-on effects on others