The Consequences of Federal Origins: Learning from the Spanish Experience

Post-Franco Spanish governance represents a rare case of a stable multinational federation in comparative and historical perspective. In contrast to other multinational federations that arose from dictatorial rule, such as the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, Spain has not compromised its geographical integrity, and its federal institutions are still operating after more than two decades. Moreover, the first attempt to decentralize Spain in response to nationalist mobilization failed miserably, and led to civil war and fascism. This makes Spain’s peaceful and stable transition to a multinational federal democracy that much more remarkable. The question, then, is what accounts for the stability of Spain’s post-1978 federation? (author's abstract

Cracks. [Dramatic performance]

"Cracks" tells the story of Bob and Debbie, whose lives gradually interweave to show stark differences in health outcomes due to inequitable access to health and social care services. "Cracks" was written and directed by Trisha Jeram, a student nurse in the School of Health and Social Care at Edinburgh Napier University, and acted by students, staff and members of the public. It was first performed in public in June 2019, using a novel combination of live action and recorded footage from the film version. The film itself later released on the 10th July 2019 via YouTube. Following requests from other universities, Cracks will be taken "on the road" during 2020. This will showcase this innovative, student-led, approach to teaching and learning to support nursing students across the UK grapple with the complex reality of health and social care integration

In support of practice-based teacher professional learning

Research indicates that teacher education programmes are impeded by abstract, theory-laden and decontextualised modes of teacher professional development. As a result, teachers have particular sets of pedagogical knowledge without a clear understanding of how this knowledge ought to be implemented in diverse classroom settings. As an alternative response, an argument is made for a practice-based teacher professional learning approach. By analysing theories around practice (practice theory) and the concept professional learning, we propose, firstly, that teacher professional learning programmes should include pedagogies for learning that are continuous, intensive, socially mediated, supportive, embodied and relate to the contextual needs of the teacher. Secondly, that teachers ought to be provided with the skills, necessary for the conversion of theoretical ideas into practice. Thirdly, we contend that a practice-based teacher professional approach requires teacher agency in relation to their practices, as opposed to merely implementing various strategies and approaches

Chikungunya Fever: A Killer Epidemic in Ahmedabad City, India

Background The Chikungunya virus is an alphavirus native to tropical Africa and Asia and is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes. The symptoms of Chikungunya include sudden onset of fever, severe arthralgia, and maculopapular rash. Thirty percent of the population on the French R�union Island was afflicted with Chikungunya in the past year. They reported 237 deaths. India on the other hand reported 1.39 million cases of Chikungunya but no deaths. Methods Mortality data from 2002-2006 was obtained from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). Actual mortality rate of 2006 was compared to the mortality rate of 2002-05 and its statistical significance tests were carried out. Findings Mortality data obtained from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) suggests that 3112 excess deaths occurred in August-November (epidemic period) compared to the average deaths in the same months during the previous four years. These differences in deaths were found to be highly statistically significant. A peak in excess mortality is seen in the month of September when 1489 additional deaths were recorded. Case fatality rates for Ahmedabad also turn out to be much higher than that of the Reunion Island. Interpretation The Chikungunya epidemic was raging when the excess deaths occurred. There were no other adverse events or other epidemics that took place could explain this excess mortality. Government authorities, WHO and other international public health agencies should take these findings of excess mortality seriously and investigate into this occurrence of excess deaths to understand this reemerging disease and prevent future epidemics and mortality.

E-KOMUNIKACIJA OD UČENIČKIH DOMOVA DO RODITELJA

We were interested in how e-competent the parents as key partners of schools are. The article discusses the role and the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) in school environment. We have found out that the process of informatization has become one of the most important activities of the modern world, a generator of social success and a means of integrating with the developed world. For organizations that do not follow the global development of computerization, there is no future. Currently in the Slovenian school system the project e-Education is in progress. Its primary goal is to accelerate the process of informatization of every educational institution, depending on its current status in management, educational and technical fields. The standards of an e-competent school, teacher (educator), headmaster and computer expert are being developed. We carried out a research in which we checked the e-competence of parents of secondary school students in boarding schools, and their e-expectations for the boarding school. The study involved 492 parents of students who live in large boarding schools in Slovenia and attend secondary school. The results indicate that parents use ICT and that they expect the boarding schools to have the possibility of collaboration with them via Internet. If boarding schools organize ICT related courses, the parents are prepared to participate.Zanimala nas je e-kompetencija roditelja kao ključnog partnera škola. Rad se bavi ulogom i važnošću informacijske i komunikacijske tehnologije u školskom okruženju. Znamo da je process informatizacije postao jedna od najvažnijih aktivnosti modernoga svijeta, generator društvenog uspjeha i sredstvo integracije sa razvijenim svijetom. Za organizacije koje ne slijede globalne trendove informatizacije, nema budućnosti. Trenutno, u Sloveniji project e-edukacije napreduje. Njegov glavni cilj je ubrzati process informatizacije svake obrazovne institucije, ovisno o trenutnom stanju u njenoj upravi, obrazovanju i tehničkom području. Standardi e-kompetentne škole, učitelja, ravnatelja i računalnih stručnjaka u stalnom su razvoju. Proveli smo istraživanje u kojem smo provjerili e-kompetenciju roditelja studenata druge godine u domovima i njihova e-očekivanja od učeničkog doma. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 492 roditelja učenika koji žive u velikim učeničkim domovima u Sloveniji i pohađaju srednju školu. Rezultati pokazuju da roditelji koriste ICT tehnologije I očekuju da učenički domovi imaju mogućnost suradnje putem interneta. Kada bi učenički domovi organizirali ICT tečajeve, roditelji bi ih bili spremni pohađati

KAJ E-KOMPETENTNI STARŠI PRIČAKUJEJO OD DIJAŠKEGA DOMA?

We were interested in how e-competent the parents as key partners of schools were. We carried out a research in which we checked the e-competence of parents of secondary school students in boarding schools, and their e-expectations for the boarding school. The study involved 492 parents of students who lived in large boarding schools in Slovenia and attended secondary school. The results indicate that parents use ICT and that they expect the boarding schools to have the possibility of collaboration with them via Internet. If boarding schools organized ICT related courses, the parents would be prepared to participate. The article discusses the role and the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) in school environment. We have found out that the process of informatisation has become one of the most important activities of the modern world, a generator of social success and a means of integrating with the developed world. For organizations that do not follow the global development of computerization, there is no future. Currently in the Slovenian school system the project e-Education is in progress. Its primary goal is to accelerate the process of informatisation of every educational institution, depending on its current status in management, educational and technical fields. The standards of an e-competent school, teacher (educator), headmaster and computer expert are being developed.Sprašujemo se, kako je z e-kompetentnostjo staršev kot najpomembnejših partnerjev šole. V ta namen smo naredili raziskavo, s katero smo preverili e-kompetentnost staršev dijakov dijaških domov ter njihova e-pričakovanja do dijaškega doma. V raziskavi je sodelovalo 492 staršev dijakov, ki bivajo v dijaških domovih v Sloveniji in obiskujejo sekundarno izobraževanje. Rezultati raziskave kažejo, da starši uporabljajo IKT in da od dijaškega doma pričakujejo možnost sodelovanja preko interneta. V primeru, da bi dijaški dom izobraževanje s področja IKT organiziral, so se pripravljeni tudi izobraževati. V članku govorimo tudi o vlogi in pomenu informacijsko-komunikacijske tehnologije (IKT) v šolskem okolju. Ugotavljamo, da je proces informatizacije postal ena od najvažnejših aktivnosti sodobnega sveta, generator družbenega uspeha in sredstvo za povezovanje z razvitim svetom. Za organizacije, ki ne bodo sledile globalnemu razvoju informatizacije, ni prihodnosti. V šolskem sistemu se na nacionalnem nivoju dogaja projekt e-šolstvo. Osnovni cilj projekta je pospešitev procesa informatizacije vsakega vzgojno izobraževalnega zavoda v odvisnosti od njegovega trenutnega stanja na vodstvenem, didaktičnem in tehničnem področju. Razvija se standard e-kompetentne šole, učitelja, vzgojitelja, ravnatelja, računalničarja

E-KOMUNIKACIJA OD UČENIČKIH DOMOVA DO RODITELJA

We were interested in how e-competent the parents as key partners of schools are. The article discusses the role and the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) in school environment. We have found out that the process of informatization has become one of the most important activities of the modern world, a generator of social success and a means of integrating with the developed world. For organizations that do not follow the global development of computerization, there is no future. Currently in the Slovenian school system the project e-Education is in progress. Its primary goal is to accelerate the process of informatization of every educational institution, depending on its current status in management, educational and technical fields. The standards of an e-competent school, teacher (educator), headmaster and computer expert are being developed. We carried out a research in which we checked the e-competence of parents of secondary school students in boarding schools, and their e-expectations for the boarding school. The study involved 492 parents of students who live in large boarding schools in Slovenia and attend secondary school. The results indicate that parents use ICT and that they expect the boarding schools to have the possibility of collaboration with them via Internet. If boarding schools organize ICT related courses, the parents are prepared to participate.Zanimala nas je e-kompetencija roditelja kao ključnog partnera škola. Rad se bavi ulogom i važnošću informacijske i komunikacijske tehnologije u školskom okruženju. Znamo da je process informatizacije postao jedna od najvažnijih aktivnosti modernoga svijeta, generator društvenog uspjeha i sredstvo integracije sa razvijenim svijetom. Za organizacije koje ne slijede globalne trendove informatizacije, nema budućnosti. Trenutno, u Sloveniji project e-edukacije napreduje. Njegov glavni cilj je ubrzati process informatizacije svake obrazovne institucije, ovisno o trenutnom stanju u njenoj upravi, obrazovanju i tehničkom području. Standardi e-kompetentne škole, učitelja, ravnatelja i računalnih stručnjaka u stalnom su razvoju. Proveli smo istraživanje u kojem smo provjerili e-kompetenciju roditelja studenata druge godine u domovima i njihova e-očekivanja od učeničkog doma. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 492 roditelja učenika koji žive u velikim učeničkim domovima u Sloveniji i pohađaju srednju školu. Rezultati pokazuju da roditelji koriste ICT tehnologije I očekuju da učenički domovi imaju mogućnost suradnje putem interneta. Kada bi učenički domovi organizirali ICT tečajeve, roditelji bi ih bili spremni pohađati