Challenging Freedom: Neoliberalism and the Erosion of Democratic Education

Goodlad, et al. (2002) rightly point out that a culture can either resist or support change. Schein’s (2010) model of culture indicates observable behaviors of a culture can be explained by exposing underlying shared values and basic assumptions that give meaning to the performance. Yet culture is many-faceted and complex. So Schein advised a clinical approach to cultural analysis that calls for identifying a problem in order to focus the analysis on relevant values and assumptions. This project starts with two assumptions: (1) The erosion of democratic education is a visible overt behavior of the current U.S. macro-culture, and (2) this is a problem. I intend to use this problem of the erosion of democratic education as a basis for a cultural analysis. My essential question is: What are the deeper, collective, competing value commitments and shared basic assumptions that hinder efforts for democratic education? The purpose of this paper is to start a conversation about particular cultural limitations and barriers we are working with as we move toward recapturing the civic mission of education

Tolerance to environmental stresses:Do fungal endophytes mediate plasticity in <i>Solanum dulcamara</i>?

Salinity imposes constraints on plant growth and development. Efforts have been made to develop salt-tolerant crops by different methods, the outcomes have not yet been sufficiently satisfactory. Plants depend on their symbiotic partners such as fungal symbionts to cope with stress conditions such as salinity. Bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) has a wide ecological amplitude. Although S. dulcamara is becoming a model plant species, its associated fungal symbionts have hardly been studied. Here we propose that its symbiotic, endophytic fungi may be responsible for S. dulcamara's wide ecological amplitude. We examined the composition of endophytic fungal communities in S. dulcamara from contrasting habitats, i.e., dry and wet regions. We developed a method to select potential isolates based on their ability to colonize, grow and impart tolerance under stress conditions. The isolates identified from this study could potentially be used to improve crop productivity under suboptimal conditions

May It Please the Court: Questions About Policy at Oral Argument

This Article examines the questions that Supreme Court Justices ask during oral argument. The authors content-coded questions asked in fifty-three cases argued during the October 2009, 2010, and 2011 terms—a total of 5,115 questions. They found that the Justices vary significantly in the extent to which they ask about different aspects of a case, including threshold issues, precedent, facts, external actors, legal argument, and policy. They also found that the Justices were more likely to ask policy-oriented questions in education cases than in constitutional cases that did not arise in a school setting. The authors included a case study of Camreta v. Greene to illustrate with specific examples each current Justice\u27s questioning style. The Study concludes that oral argument plays an important role in the Supreme Court\u27s decision-making process, giving the Justices the opportunity to ask questions that are of concern to them

May It Please the Court: Questions About Policy at Oral Argument

This Article examines the questions that Supreme Court Justices ask during oral argument. The authors content-coded questions asked in fifty-three cases argued during the October 2009, 2010, and 2011 terms—a total of 5,115 questions. They found that the Justices vary significantly in the extent to which they ask about different aspects of a case, including threshold issues, precedent, facts, external actors, legal argument, and policy. They also found that the Justices were more likely to ask policy-oriented questions in education cases than in constitutional cases that did not arise in a school setting. The authors included a case study of Camreta v. Greene to illustrate with specific examples each current Justice\u27s questioning style. The Study concludes that oral argument plays an important role in the Supreme Court\u27s decision-making process, giving the Justices the opportunity to ask questions that are of concern to them

Analysis of growth characteristics in short-term divergently selected Japanese quail

This study was carried out to examine the effect of short-term selection for 5-weeks of age body weight in divergent lines of Japanese quail. Growth curves for both sexes within each selection group resembled the general sigmoid shape of a typical growth curve. Gompertz model curves and the observed growth curves were very similar. In both males and females the parameter estimates of the Gompertz growth curve were obtained with a high determination coefficient (0.9898 &#8805; R2 &#8805; 0.9840). Sex differences in asymptotic weight were found to be significant across lines. Similarly, in both sexes a significant divergent selection effect was determined for parameter A. The growth rate in all the Japanese quail lines was significantly higher in males than in females. There was also a significant increase in growth rate of the females selected for increased 5-week body weight over the control females, as well as a significant decline in growth rate of males selected for decreased 5-week body weight compared to the unselected control group. Keywords: Gompertz model; growth curve; asymmetric response;growth rate South African Journal of Animal Sciences Vol. 35 (2) 2005: pp.83-8

Sense of coherence and quality of life among adult immigrant population in Hedmark and Oppland counties in Norway - a quantitative cross-sectional study

Bakgrunn: Opplevelse av sammenheng (OAS) og livskvalitet betraktes som viktige mål med hensyn til psykisk helse. Ifølge Antonovsky antas en sterk OAS å være en stor mestringsressurs for å opprettholde god helse, og dermed kan OAS betraktes som en avgjørende faktor for psykisk helse. Livskvalitet er et uttrykk som er forbundet med mange betydninger og det skaper positive assosiasjoner for folk flest, og flere studier har vist at måling av livskvalitet er et viktig bidrag i å vurdere helse og psykisk helse. Formål: Studien undersøker fire overordnet hypoteser: (i) OAS har positiv korrelasjon med livskvalitet, jo sterkere gjennomsnittsskår på OAS, desto bedre er gjennomsnittskår på livskvalitet generelt. (ii) Gjennomsnittsskår på OAS og livskvalitet har tendens til å øke med alder over levetid. Jo eldre er utvalget, desto høyere gjennomsnittsskår på OAS og livskvalitet. (iii) Men har betydelig høyere gjennomsnittsskår på OAS og livskvalitet enn kvinner. (iv) Sammenliknet med vestlige innvandrere, har ikke-vestlige innvandrere lavere gjennomsnittsskår på OAS og livskvalitet. Metode og materialer: Dette er et hypotesegenerende tverrsnittsstudie med et utvalg bestående av mennesker med minoritetsbakgrunn fra Hedmark og Oppland fylker i Norge. Utvalget består av N=92, aldersgrupper 20-69. Inklusjonskriterium: Voksne personer med innvandrerbakgrunn, minste oppholdslenge i Norge er 5 år. SOC-29 og WHOQOL-Bref skalaer ble brukt til måling av OAS og livskvaliete. To kvalitative spørsmål ble opprettet, ett hvert spørsmål på OAS og livskvalitet, dette med et ønske om å få fram andre synsvinkler om hva utvalget selv mener om disse fenomenene. Resultat: Funn fra studien bekrefter korrelasjonen mellom OAS og livskvalitet. Videre var det ingen statistisk signifikant forskjell mellom innvandrere gruppene, samt kjønn og aldersgrupper. Konklusjon: I lys av formålet med studien, var det ingen statistisk signifikant forskjell mellom vestlige innvandrere sammenliknet med ikke-vestlige innvandrere. Dette er en indikasjon på at ikke-vestlige innvandrere også kan være en ressurssterk gruppe i likhet med vestlige innvandrere. Nøkkelord: Tverrsnittsstudie, Minoritetsgrupper, Innvandrere, Innvandring, Migrasjon, Opplevelse av sammenheng (OAS), livskvalitet, WHOQOL-Bref, Salutogenese, Psykiatrisk sykepleie, Psykisk helse, Psykisk helsearbeid.Engelsk sammendrag (abstract): Background: Sense of Coherence (SOC) and Quality of Life (QoL) measures are important aspects with regard to mental health. According to Antonovsky, a strong SOC is believed to be a major coping resource for maintaining good health, thus, SOC may as well be regarded as a major determinant of mental health. QoL is an expression which is related with many meanings and creates positive associations for most people. Previous studies suggests that QoL measures, is an important aspect in the assessment of health and mental health. Aims: The study explored four major hypotheses: (i) SOC have positive correlations with QoL, the stronger the average Mean (SD) score SOC; the better the average means score QoL generally. (ii) SOC and QoL tend to increase with age over the lifespan. The older the population sample, the higher the average Mean (SD) score SOC and perceived QoL. (iii) Men have significantly higher average Mean (SD) score SOC and perceived QoL compared to women. (iv) Non-Western immigrants have lower average Mean (SD) score SOC and QoL than their counterpart the Western immigrants. Methods and materials: This is a hypothesis-generating cross-sectional study with a sample consisting of individuals with minority backgrounds from Hedmark and Oppland counties in Norway. The sample consists of N=92, aged 20 years and over was obtained. Inclusion criterion: Adult immigrants with at least a minimum of 5 years length of stay in Norway. SOC-29 items and WHOQOL-Bref 26 items scales were used for the measurements of SOC and perceived QoL. Two qualitative questions were proposed one for each of the scales, this to allow respondents to express what they considered most vital when assessing these phenomena. Main results: Findings from the study confirms the correlation between SOC and perceived QoL. Furthermore, there were no statistically significant differences within the immigrants groups as well as gender and age groups. Conclusion: In the light of the aims of the study, there were no statistically significant differences between Western immigrants versus non-Western immigrants, thus, this is an indication that non-Western immigrants may as well be a resourceful group similar to their counterpart the Western immigrants. 10 Key Words: Cross-sectional, Minority groups, Immigrants, Immigration, Migration, Sense of Coherence, Quality of Life, WHOQOL-Bref, Salutogenesis, Psychiatric nursing, Mental health, Mental health care