Industrial Relations Education in Canada: The Perspective of Vocational/Technical Educators

Des cours sont à la disposition des militants syndicaux pour leur faciliter la compréhension des questions se rapportant aux relations du travail et pour leur permettre d'acquérir une certaine compétence dans ce champs d'activité, mais les programmes scolaires réguliers n'en offrent guère aux travailleurs en général.La littérature sur le sujet enseigne que, pour être efficace dans le monde du travail, les salariés doivent avoir la possibilité de connaître les institutions et les valeurs qui actionnent l'économie. Ceci est vrai tant en ce qui a trait à la formation professionnelle proprement dite qu'à la façon dont ces connaissances sont utilisées par chacun. Les décisions touchant les relations de travail peuvent être améliorées, présume-t-on, par la compréhension de la société à l'intérieur de laquelle ces décisions sont prises.D'une façon générale, selon la perception qu'ont les professeurs d'enseignement technique et professionnel, on n'accorde que peu d'attention à l'enseignement des relations de travail. Cela est surtout vrai dans le secteur de la formation professionnelle et technique, tel que le démontre une enquête faite parmi les membres de l'Association canadienne de la formation professionnelle.Parmi les constatations les plus significatives de cet enquête, on peut signaler les suivantes :1° La majorité des répondants estiment que les écoles secondaires devraient assumer la responsabilité première en matière d'enseignement des relations de travail et les écoles post-secondaires ainsi que les corps intermédiaires, soit les syndicats et les associations d'employeurs, devraient jouer un rôle de suppléance.2° Trente-deux pour cent d'entre eux considèrent que leur institution donne une formation adéquate en cette matière, tandis que les trois-quarts répondent qu'elle devrait dispenser cet enseignement.3° Les obstacles à l'enseignement des relations de travail réfléchissent la nature controversée de ces questions et le manque de ressources (temps, argent, matériel didactique) disponibles pour le traiter convenablement.Étant donné le manque de formation en matière de relations de travail et les obstacles qui s'y opposent, ne serait-il pas souhaitable que cet enseignement soit incorporé dans les programmes en prenant soin d'y insérer toute la gamme des valeurs et d'intensifier les connaissances spécialisées à mesure que le cours progresse vers sa phase terminale.This paper discusses the relevancy of industrial relations education in the formal education Systems in Canada, and through analysis of a survey of vocational and technical educators, examines their perceptions of IR education in Canada generally, and in vocational/technical institutions specifically

Integrative Versus Distributive Bargaining: Choosing a Problem Resolution Process

L'examen des deux méthodes pour résoudre les différends permet de constater que leurs exigences se contredisent.L'approche coopérative ou la négociation interdépendante vise à rechercher le meilleur règlement d'un problème. Les stratégies et les tactiques que l'on utilise s'opposent à l'idée de conflit ou à l'approche de contestation. Le processus choisi, dans une situation donnée, repose en premier lieu sur le fait qu'une partie considère le problème en lui-même. En d'autres termes, y a-t-il possibilité d'un avantage qui est partagé entre les parties ou existe-t-il une possibilité d'accroître leurs avantages mutuels,?En deuxième lieu, le choix du processus peut reposer sur la perception qu'une des parties se fait du point de vue de son adversaire. En d'autres mots, l'adversaire considérera-t-il la question en recourant aux stratégies et aux tactiques d'une approche de coopération ou d'une approche de contestation?Cette double approche, qui repose sur la façon dont on conçoit le problème à résoudre et sur l'opinion que l'on a de l'adversaire, peut conduire à la possibilité de dix situations différentes. (Tableau 1) (Le cas illogique de n'envisager que la possibilité de contestation mais de choisir l'autre méthode ne peut être considéré comme option). Les auteurs estiment que le processus de coopération ne pourra se produire avec certitude que là où les deux parties considèrent le problème et l'adversaire comme s'ils désiraient coopérer dans la recherche d'une solution. Dans les deux autres cas, on peut accepter de suivre un processus de coopération, mais cela dépend de l'attitude initiale d'une partie qui considère le problème ou l'autre partie sous l'angle de la contestation.Les auteurs tirent cette appréciation de trois sources. Ils considèrent d'abord les tactiques inhérentes aux deux méthodes pour régler le problème ainsi que l'effet de ces tactiques sur l'autre partie. En second lieu, ils ont tenu compte de l'expérience acquise en matière de confiance et de méfiance des deux parties l'une envers l'autre. Finalement, ils étudient certains problèmes particuliers dans le domaine de relations professionnelles, soit l'influence d'un groupe sur le comportement de ses agents et l'effet du pouvoir de marchandage dans des rapports professionnels dynamiques.Enfin, les auteurs laissent entendre que l'étude d'un cas unique isolé peut s'appliquer également à des cas à problèmes multiples.This paper examines the antithetical nature of two methods of resolving conflict through negotiation, and suggests there is an appropriate process depending upon how a party views the problem, and how he perceives it being viewed by his opponent

Refining human palaeodietary reconstruction using amino acid delta N-15 values of plants, animals and humans.

An established method of estimating the trophic level of an organism is through stable isotope analysis of its tissues and those of its diet. This method has been used in archaeology to reconstruct past human diet from the stable nitrogen isotope (d15N) values of human and herbivore bone collagen. However, this approach, using the 15N-enrichment of human bone collagen d15N values over associated herbivore bone collagen d15N values to predict the relative importance of animal protein, relies on the assumptions that: (i) the d15N values of plants consumed by humans and herbivores are identical, and (ii) the 15Nenrichment between diet and consumer is consistent. Bone collagen amino acid d15N values have the potential to tackle these uncertainties, as they constrain the factors influencing bone collagen d15N values. In this study, the d15N values of glutamic acid and phenylalanine in human and herbivore bone collagen isolates from Neolithic sites in Germany, Greece and Turkey were determined by gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry. The fraction of animal protein in total dietary protein consumed by the humans was estimated by: (i) comparing bulk human and herbivore collagen d15N values, (ii) comparing bulk human and herbivore collagen and ancient charred cereal grain d15N values, (iii) comparing human bone collagen d15NGlutamic acid and d15NPhenylalanine values, and (iv) comparing d15NGlutamic acid values of human and herbivore bone collagen and estimated d15NGlutamic acid values of ancient charred cereal grains. Where determined cereal grain d15N values are higher than estimated herbivore forage values, estimates of animal protein consumption are significantly lower, emphasising the importance of the plant nitrogen contribution to human bone collagen. This study also highlights the need for further investigation into: (i) the D15NConsumer-Diet values of glutamic acid and phenylalanine in terrestrial ecosystems, and (ii) D15NGlutamic acid-Phenylalanine values of common plant foods in order to improve the accuracy and more widespread applicability of amino acid-based methods for palaeodietary reconstruction

Configuration-interaction calculations of positron binding to zinc and cadmium

The configuration-interaction method is applied to the study of positronic zinc (e+Zn) and positronic cadmium (e+Cd). The estimated binding energies and annihilation rates were 0.00373 hartree and 0.42×109 sec-1 for e+Zn and 0.006 10 hartree and 0.56×109 sec-1 for e+Cd. The low-energy elastic cross section and Zeff were estimated from a model potential that was tuned to the binding energies and annihilation rates. Since the scattering lengths were positive (14.5a0 for Zn and 11.6a0 for Cd) the differential cross sections are larger at backward angles than at forward angles just above threshold. The possibilities of measuring differential cross sections to confirm positron binding to these atoms is discussed

Caribou, Petroleum, and the Limits of Locality in the Canada–US Borderlands

his article discusses Karsten Heuer’s 2006 book Being Caribou in light of debates in ecocriticism and border studies about how to define the local in the context of environmental problems of vast range and uncertain temporality. It explores how Heuer’s book about following the Porcupine Caribou herd’s migration engages in multiple forms of boundary crossing—between countries, between hemispheric locations, and between species—and shows how insights from Indigenous storytelling complicate the book’s appeal to environmentalist readers by asserting a prior, transnational Indigenous presence in the transboundary landscapes of present-day Alaska and the Yukon

Grain Surface Models and Data for Astrochemistry

AbstractThe cross-disciplinary field of astrochemistry exists to understand the formation, destruction, and survival of molecules in astrophysical environments. Molecules in space are synthesized via a large variety of gas-phase reactions, and reactions on dust-grain surfaces, where the surface acts as a catalyst. A broad consensus has been reached in the astrochemistry community on how to suitably treat gas-phase processes in models, and also on how to present the necessary reaction data in databases; however, no such consensus has yet been reached for grain-surface processes. A team of ∼25 experts covering observational, laboratory and theoretical (astro)chemistry met in summer of 2014 at the Lorentz Center in Leiden with the aim to provide solutions for this problem and to review the current state-of-the-art of grain surface models, both in terms of technical implementation into models as well as the most up-to-date information available from experiments and chemical computations. This review builds on the results of this workshop and gives an outlook for future directions

Selecting superluminous supernovae in faint galaxies from the first year of the Pan-STARRS1 Medium Deep Survey

The Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) survey has obtained imaging in five bands (griz yP1) over 10 Medium Deep Survey (MDS) fields covering a total of 70 square degrees. This paper describes the search for apparently hostless supernovae (SNe) within the first year of PS1 MDS data with an aim of discovering superluminous supernovae (SLSNe). A total of 249 hostless transients were discovered down to a limiting magnitude of MAB ∼ 23.5, of which 76 were classified as Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). There were 57 SNe with complete light curves that are likely core-collapse SNe (CCSNe) or type Ic SLSNe and 12 of these have had spectra taken. Of these 12 hostless, non-Type Ia SNe, 7 were SLSNe of type Ic at redshifts between 0.5 and 1.4. This illustrates that the discovery rate of type Ic SLSNe can be maximized by concentrating on hostless transients and removing normal SNe Ia. We present data for two possible SLSNe; PS1-10pm (z = 1.206) and PS1-10ahf (z = 1.1), and estimate the rate of type Ic SLSNe to be between 3+3−2×10−5 and 8+2−1×10−5 that of the CCSN rate within 0.3 ≤ z ≤ 1.4 by applying a Monte Carlo technique. The rate of slowly evolving, type Ic SLSNe (such as SN2007bi) is estimated as a factor of 10 lower than this range

Examining the validity of the Athlete Engagement Questionnaire (AEQ) within a Portuguese sport setting

Sport psychology literature suggests that understanding engagement levels is pivotal to promote positive sporting experiences among athletes. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Athlete Engagement Questionnaire among Portuguese sport athletes. Two distinct samples of Portuguese athletes from different competitive levels were collected, and the results of a confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated a good fit of the model to the data. A review of the psychometric properties indicated that all factors showed good composite reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. In addition, a multi-groups analysis showed the invariance of the model in two independent samples providing evidence of cross validity. Implications of these results for scholars and coaches are discussed and guidelines for future studies are suggested

Positron and positronium interactions with Cu

The configuration-interaction (CI) method is used to investigate the interactions of positrons and positronium with copper at low energies. The calculations were performed within the framework of the fixed-core approximation with semiempirical polarization potentials used to model dynamical interactions between the active particles and the (1s-3d) core. Initially, calculations upon the e(+)Li system were used to refine the numerical procedures and highlighted the extreme difficulties of using an orthodox CI calculation to describe the e(+)Li system. The positron binding energy of e(+) Cu derived from a CI calculation which included electron and positron orbitals with l less than or equal to 18 was. 0.005 12 hartree while the spin-averaged annihilation rate was 0.507 x 10(9) s(-1). The configuration basis used for the bound-state calculation was also used as a part of the trial wave function for a Kohn variational calculation of positron-copper scattering. The positron-copper system has a scattering length of about 13.1a(0) and the annihilation parameter Z(eff) at threshold was 72.9. The dipole polarizability of the neutral copper ground state was computed and found to be 41.6a(0)(3). The structure of CuPs was also studied with the CI method and it was found to have a binding energy of 0.0143 hartree and an annihilation rate of similar to2 x 10(9) s(-1)

A Millennium Learning Goal for education post‐2015: a question of outcomes or processes

As the target year for the current Millennium Development Goal of universal completion of primary education approaches, three World Bank economists have proposed its replacement with a Millennium Learning Goal. This is part of a trend of increased privileging of learning outcomes. The proposal is assessed from the perspective of human rights-based and social justice conceptualisations of education quality. A Millennium Learning Goal may enhance information on inclusion, conceived as equal opportunity to achieve learning outcomes. However, there is a danger that it would be misused to generate high stakes tests that can be detrimental to the achievement of goals that are not readily measurable and hence to the relevance of education. It is argued that a process goal with qualitative targets for the assessment of learning, for the monitoring of educational processes and for the processes by which learning goals are determined would be more appropriate for the international level.As the target year for the current Millennium Development Goal of universal completion of primary education approaches, three World Bank economists have proposed its replacement with a Millennium Learning Goal. This is part of a trend of increased privileging of learning outcomes. The proposal is assessed from the perspective of human rights-based and social justice conceptualisations of education quality. A Millennium Learning Goal may enhance information on inclusion, conceived as equal opportunity to achieve learning outcomes. However, there is a danger that it would be misused to generate high stakes tests that can be detrimental to the achievement of goals that are not readily measurable and hence to the relevance of education. It is argued that a process goal with qualitative targets for the assessment of learning, for the monitoring of educational processes and for the processes by which learning goals are determined would be more appropriate for the international level