Interactions with Queensland show children: enhancing knowledge of educational contexts

This paper analyses one element of Shulman's (1987) categories of the teacher knowledge base - knowledge of educational contexts - in relation to the education of Queensland travelling show children. This knowledge includes three sets of interactions: the children's relationships on and off the show circuits, the children's interactions with their teachers, and the teachers' interactions with the children's parents and home tutors. The concepts of 'border crossing' (Giroux, 1990) and 'boundary maintenance' (Barth, 1969) underscore the importance of show children and their teachers being able to cross the boundaries between show life and formal schooling

The Principal as change leader and manager in and via the Queensland School for Travelling Show Children

Despite the extensive literature on the management of educational change (see for example Fullan, 2001, 2003), one constant in that literature is the consensus that such change is both complex and contextualised. A crucial consequence of that constant is the multiple fronts and levels on which school principals as change leaders and managers must engage with change, in order to bring about the most effective possible outcomes for students, families and communities. It is this link between change at the levels of school, community and society with which this paper is concerned. The first-named author of the paper is the Principal of the Queensland School for Travelling Show Children (QSTSC), and the paper outlines how she operates as a change leader and manager, as well as some of the challenges and opportunities that she meets in doing so. The paper begins by outlining the context of her work, then moves to discuss her multiple roles as change agent in the school, in the show community and in Australian society more broadly

Arrangements and Cost of Providing Support to Rural Water Service Providers

This paper is about the costs of providing direct and indirect support to rural water service provision. It provides an overview of the features such support entails, how these features can be organized, what they cost and how they can be financed. It also provides recommendations to countries for strengthening support. The paper is based on a desk review of existing literature from seven countries and an analysis of primary cost data collected by the WASHCost project in Andhra Pradesh (India), Mozambique and Ghana in 2010 and 2011. Support to service providers in the form of monitoring, technical assistance and (re)training of service providers is called direct support whereas indirect support refers to aspects such as macro-level planning and policy making. Direct support can be provided in different forms: by specialized agencies, by local government or even by an association of service providers. However, the nature, scope and frequency of such support are often not sufficiently defined. There is, therefore, still little quantitative evidence that supports the premise that direct support has a positive impact on the quality and sustainability of services

Eco-efficiency indicators for urban transport

This paper focuses on urban passenger transport eco-efficiency, which can be defined as the production of maximum benefits to society while minimising environmental impacts from urban transport’s inputs of energy and materials. Researchers have intensively studied transport’s varied environmental impacts, particularly through Life Cycle Assessment; this paper argues that primary transport energy per capita is presently the best measure of impact. Although transport’s societal benefits have generally been regarded as self-evident, access to out-of-home activities, not passenger-km, should be considered as the fundamental useful output of an urban transport system, since transport is a derived demand. We argue that access levels are roughly similar in all high-income OECD cities, so that these cities can be ranked on transport eco-efficiency simply on the basis of per capita primary transport energy

Can Electric Vehicles Deliver Energy and Carbon Reductions?

Electric vehicles (EVs) are often thought to be an important means for reducing both the greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption of global transport, particularly for road passenger transport. They are potentially more fuel efficient than comparable internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), particularly in urban areas, because of regenerative braking. It is well-recognised that the energy efficiency of EVs decreases with the range the batteries must provide (because of rising battery mass), and that greenhouse gas comparisons with ICEVs depend on the grid electricity source. However, this paper argues that comparing EVs and ICEVs is much more complex than generally recognised. Uncertainties occur in both primary energy use and greenhouse gas emission calculations. Further, it may not be legitimate to evaluate these terms on a simple vehicle-km basis, because of spillover effects

Assessing global renewable energy forecasts

In 2013, renewable energy accounted for only 8.9% of global commercial primary energy use, with fossil fuels supplying nearly all the rest. A number of official forecasts project such global energy growing by 50% or more by mid-century, and continuing to rise thereafter, in parallel with continued global economic growth. All energy sources of the future must meet three criteria: reserves or annual technical capacity must be adequate to meet projected demand; their climate change effects must be minimal; finally, they must be able to be widely deployed in the limited time available for climate mitigation. It is argued here that existing future energy scenarios generally fail to meet all three criteria. Most scenarios assume that adequate fossil/nuclear reserves are available, and that technical fixes can overcome greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. The few scenarios projecting that renewables will supply most of the world's energy by mid-century assume unrealistic technical potentials and implementation times. To meet all three criteria, global energy use will need to be reduced, through a combination of energy efficiency improvements and energy conservation efforts

Could automated vehicles reduce transport energy?

Transport energy use and carbon emissions continue to rise, but both need to be drastically reduced. Conventional proposed solutions, all already used to some extent, include a shift to low carbon transport fuels, major improvements in vehicular fuel efficiency, and modal shift. However, their impact has been marginal. This paper instead examines the extent to which fully automated vehicles could contribute to the environmental sustainability of global passenger transport. Fully automated vehicles were found to lead to either an increase or, at best, a slight decrease in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and so will be of marginal use at best for reducing emissions in a business-as-usual world. Reasons for this conclusion are first, their potentially lower time and money costs would tend to increase vehicular travel, offsetting any energy efficiency gains, and second, that they face serious problems that could delay or even prevent their widespread introduction

Strategies for household energy conservation

The energy consumed by households for space heating and cooling, water heating, cooking and running appliances is a major component of national final energy use. Along with private transport, it is the only energy use (and corresponding greenhouse gas emissions) directly under householders’ control. Accordingly, many researchers have examined ways of reducing household energy use, using either monetary or non-monetary measures. We find that although case studies suggest only a limited role for energy pricing, our comparative study of domestic energy use by different nations suggests otherwise. Energy researchers have also examined various social science approaches, but again their effectiveness in case studies is limited. We argue, however, that householders, taking their cue from political leaders, do not presently take climate change very seriously. This attitude could well change over the next decade or so, and with it the scope for non-monetary approaches to energy and thus carbon reductions