84 research outputs found
Character Development and the âIn-Betweenâ
A plethora of discussions have been made on character development since Aristotleâs musings on Eudaimonia. These musings have led to multiple perspectives on character development; however, they rarely touch on the area of the âin-between,â a space of tensionality (Aoki 1996) for character development within multi-cultural settings. This article explores the concept of character development, discusses the importance of the language of virtues, critiques the notion of the âin-between,â in connection with home- and host- cultures, and concludes with the implications of the âin-betweenâ within the context of character development in multi-cultural settings. The intent is to explore the âin-betweenâ as a space for negotiations that provide opportunities for character development
Collaborative, Reflective, and Iterative Japanese Lesson Study in an Initial Teacher Education Program: Benefits and Challenges
To investigate benefits and challenges to engage teacher candidates in Japanese lesson study, defined as a collaborative, reflective, and iterative teacher development proâ cess, we analyzed reflective papers submitted by 60 teacher candidates studying at an Ontario faculty of education, engaged 20 practicum associate teachers in a group disâ cussion, and considered the reflective notes of the course instructor (first author). Findings suggest that Japanese lesson study provides opportunities for teacher candiâ dates to build professional learning communities, to deepen understanding of curricâ ulum and pedagogy, and to develop habits of critical observation, analysis, and refâ lection. Although benefits of lesson study are numerous and significant, our research identified implementation challenges related to time, practicum placements, and the professional development of associate teachers. Key Words: professional learning communities, reflective practice, teacher collaboraâ tionEn vue dâanalyser les avantages et les dĂ©fis reliĂ©s Ă lâĂ©tude de leçon japonaise, une mĂ©thode de formation Ă lâenseignement axĂ©e sur la collaboration, la rĂ©flexion et lâitĂ©ration, les auteurs ont (1) analysĂ© les rĂ©flexions Ă©crites de 60 candidats Ă lâenseignement Ă©tudiant dans une FacultĂ© dâĂ©ducation en Ontario, (2) rĂ©uni 20 enseiâ gnants associĂ©s pour une discussion en groupe et (3) analysĂ© les notes de lâinstructeur du cours. Les observations ainsi colligĂ©es donnent Ă penser que lâĂ©tude de leçons japonaises permet aux futurs enseignants de crĂ©er des communautĂ©s dâapprentissage professionnelles, de mieux comprendre le curriculum et la pĂ©dagogie et de dĂ©velopâ per des habitudes dâobservation, dâanalyse et de rĂ©flexion critiques. Bien que les avantages de lâĂ©tude de leçon soient nombreux et importants, cette recherche met en lumiĂšre les difficultĂ©s que pose sa mise en Ćuvre, notamment le temps requis, les endroits Ă trouver pour les stages et le perfectionnement professionnel des enseiâ gnants associĂ©s. Mots clĂ©s : communautĂ©s dâapprentissage professionnelles, pratique rĂ©flexive, collaâ boration du personnel enseignant.
Implementing the General Education Development (GED) Program in First Nations Communities: Struggles for Power
This paper describes an ethnographic case study of eleven First Nations adult learners in a Northern Ontario community attempting to earn secondary school equivalency through the General Education Development (GED) program. The paper maintains a focus on the power differentials at work in both the learners' prior educational endeavours and their experiences while working inside of the GED program. Based on the data, we argue that, despite appearances to the contrary, First Nations learners are subjected to a system of education that is failing to empower those learners to take advantage of educational opportunities that are available in mainstream Canadian society.Cet article dĂ©crit une Ă©tude ethnographique de cas auprĂšs de onze apprenants adultes autochtones qui tentent, dans une communautĂ© du Nord de lâOntario, dâobtenir une Ă©quivalence dâĂ©tudes secondaires par des cours de formation gĂ©nĂ©rale (GED). Plus prĂ©cisĂ©ment, lâarticle porte sur les Ă©carts systĂ©miques de pouvoir qui entrent en ligne de compte tant dans les Ă©tudes prĂ©alables des apprenants que dans leurs expĂ©riences avec le programme GED. En sâappuyant sur les donnĂ©es, nous affirmons que, mĂȘme si les apparences peuvent laisser supposer le contraire, les apprenants autochtones sont soumis Ă un systĂšme dâĂ©ducation qui ne rĂ©ussit pas Ă les doter des compĂ©tences nĂ©cessaires pour saisir les possibilitĂ©s Ă©ducatives offertes par la sociĂ©tĂ© canadienne
CHANGE FORCES: IMPLEMENTING CHANGE IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL FOR THE COMMON GOOD
In this article, we investigate the change forces that act on administrators, subject department chairpersons and teachers as they seek to implement a change in a Canadian secondary school. Using a case study methodology, our analysis of the data uses Sergiovanniâs (1998) six change forces: bureaucratic, personal, market, professional, cultural, and democratic forces. Our interpretation supports the importance of the principal and administrators, working together with teachers, in implementing change. The analysis points to the chairperson of subject departments having a crucial, but often overlooked, role in the implementation of change. Three key co-requisites that allow chairpersons to play this critical role are: the existence of a school-level democratic commitment to the common good that guides the work of professional learning; the location of professional learning within departments to operationalise the common good; and, the capacity of the chairperson to fulfil their role as an instructional leader in the fullest sense of the term
An Investigation of the Effectiveness of Ignition Sparks
The effectiveness of ignition sparks was determined by measuring the volume (or mass) of hydrogen and of oxygen which combines at low pressures. The sparks were generated by a magneto and an ignition spark coil. It was found that with constant energy the amount of reaction increases as the capacitance component of the spark increases. The use of a series spark gap may decrease or increase the amount of reaction, the effect depending upon the amount and distribution of capacitance in the circuit. So far as the work has progressed, it has been found that sparks reported by other investigations as being most efficient for igniting lean mixtures cause the largest amount of reaction. Differences between the amount of reaction with a magneto spark and an ignition spark coil were noted. The method appears to offer a means of determining the most efficient spark generator for internal-combustion engines as well as determining a relation between the character of spark, energy, and effectiveness in igniting inflammable mixtures
Wind-blown mosquitoes and introduction of Japanese encephalitis into Australia.
Backtrack simulation analysis indicates that wind-blown mosquitoes could have traveled from New Guinea to Australia, potentially introducing Japanese encephalitis virus. Large incursions of the virus in 1995 and 1998 were linked with low-pressure systems that sustained strong northerly winds from New Guinea to the Cape York Peninsula
Characterization of superconducting through-silicon vias as capacitive elements in quantum circuits
The large physical size of superconducting qubits and their associated
on-chip control structures presents a practical challenge towards building a
large-scale quantum computer. In particular, transmons require a
high-quality-factor shunting capacitance that is typically achieved by using a
large coplanar capacitor. Other components, such as superconducting microwave
resonators used for qubit state readout, are typically constructed from
coplanar waveguides which are millimeters in length. Here we use compact
superconducting through-silicon vias to realize lumped element capacitors in
both qubits and readout resonators to significantly reduce the on-chip
footprint of both of these circuit elements. We measure two types of devices to
show that TSVs are of sufficient quality to be used as capacitive circuit
elements and provide a significant reductions in size over existing approaches
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