Exploring different 'perspectives' in secondary geography: Professional development options

Significant changes have occurred in the worlds of geography since 1973, and a substantial literature has emerged about these changes and their effects on the 'divide' between secondary and tertiary geographers. We suggest that while the divide has not had much effect on the content taught in secondary geography in New Zealand and Britain, exposure to a range of perspectives on this content is a neglected area of professional development. Post-Fordism and deep ecology are described as perspectives that are not widely used in delivering secondary geography content. We argue firstly that effective use of different perspectives needs to be based on professional, personal and social change, and secondly that the Internet is a powerful tool in the engineering of such change

The New Zealand social studies curriculum struggle 1993-1997: An "insider" analysis.

The development of Social Studies in the New Zealand Curriculum over the 1993-1997 period was highly contested. The authors were directly involved in the social studies development over this period, and this paper reflects on some of the major events in the development, from our "insiders" viewpoint. The paper argues that the contest was strongly influenced by two major "dominant voice groups with very different views on what a social studies curriculum should be like and by key elements of the political and economic reform agenda of the day. The paper traces the rise and fall in influence of each "dominant voice" group and also examines the way in which the reform agenda changed throughout the development. It argues that in the end the inclusive and liberal-democratic voice was dominant over the neo-liberal and educationally conservative one. It also suggests that a return to a more cooperative, negotiated style of curriculum development, rather than a pure "market-contract model" approach, was needed to bring the development to a satisfactory conclusion

Portfolio Strategies, Relinquishment, The Urban School System of the Future, and Smart Districts

Today, there are many new proposals about governance of K-12 Education: The portfolio strategy emphasizes a system of continuous improvement for diverse, autonomous schools governed by performance contracts; devolution models include efforts to expand the role of charter management organizations and other nonprofit providers (Andy Smarick's "Urban School System of the Future," Neerav Kingslad's "Relinquishment"); and school transformation models emphasize the role of third-party support organizations that create K-12 feeder patterns of allied schools (Bill Guenther and Justin Cohen's Mass Insight "Smart Districts" proposal).Are these really rival proposals as the authors of some are claiming? This idea is misguided; these are complemetns not alternatives

Beware the animals that dance: conservation as an unintended outcome of cultural practices

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Parks Congress of 2003 and the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) of 2004 call for the recognition and support of Community Conserved Areas, with the CBD Programme of Work on Protected Areas committing countries to take action by 2008. Both within protected areas and in the matrix of land beyond reserves, customs and beliefs of indigenous and local communities can yield conservation benefits. Identifying an intention to conserve by the custodians of customary conserved areas can be challenging as customary practices are embedded within a myriad of cosmologies and worldviews. However, the definition of Community Conserved Areas does not require an expressed intention to conserve nor does it specify the mechanisms by which nature or natural resources can be conserved. Thus, conservation as an unintended outcome of cultural practices is included within the scope of community conservation. Fieldwork was conducted in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, from October 2010 to April 2011. Data for the case study of Gumantong comes from an interview with Porodong Mogilin,!Native Chief Representative of Matunggong Native Court in Bavanggazo, Kudat and meetings of community leaders from the 13 villages surrounding Gumantong. This paper 1) employs the case study of Gumantong in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, to highlight the distinction between communities expressing an intention to conserve and conservation as an unintended outcome of cultural practices and 2) considers the implications of this distinction for the process of recognizing and supporting Community Conserved Areas

Responding to unaccompanied minors in Scotland:policy and local authority perspectives

Following the provisions of the 2016 Immigration Act to permit the transfer of unaccompanied children the Scottish Government, COSLA, and local authorities have entered into negotiations with the Home Office to facilitate the arrival of children and young people to Scotland The present research sought to explore the capacity, experience and understanding of local authorities to provide a support system that can best ensure the wellbeing of children, as it has been suggested that outside of the large urban authorities there is limited experience of working with separated children.The study planned to conduct a survey across all 32 Scottish local authorities; undertake a qualitative analysis of key policy and guidance and to conduct focus group interviews with professionals in the field to explore in depth the findings of the first two stages. Due to access and engagement issues it was not possible to do focus group interviews. The findings of the report are based on the return of 14 questionnaires (44% of local authorities in Scotland) and a policy analysis of four key documents. As such the findings can be described as indicative, further work is required to explore further a number of the key issues identified.The Bacchian policy analysis indicated that some of the key guidance documents for local authorities and professionals are reluctant to engage with the more complex issues relating to children on the move, especially any reflection on the societal and geo-political reasons why children migrate in the first instance. Coupled with this there is also indication of language in documents that problematises routes of arrival that are not considered ‘legal’ and ‘safe’ thereby creating deserving and undeserving arrivals. Within the context of the documents there is concern that children are either characterised as either children or asylum seekers, when in fact they are both. While the guidance is useful for process and procedure, overall, the broader contextual analysis of children’s decisions to move is largely omitted, such that any ethical or sociological understanding of needs and responses is minimised.Local authorities are reporting higher numbers of unaccompanied children coming in to care with the number of local authorities who have over 10 in their care increasing; while official statistics are rarely published for the number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children in Scotland, it is estimated that at present local authorities are looking after approximately 140 separated children. For those local authorities that have larger numbers of children, there is greater familiarity with the processes and procedures, both in relation to immigration and welfare issues and legislation. Across all authorities there is some inconsistency in guidance consulted, with little indication of specific guidance in relation to unaccompanied children in use universally. Age assessments were the most common assessment undertaken by local authorities, although only three local authorities indicated they had consulted age assessment guidance. There was clear recognition of the needs presented by children and local authorities indicated they drew on the expertise of a number of partner agencies to support children and young people.While the present findings are limited by the number of local authorities responding, they indicate that understanding and responses to key issues and policy guidance varies substantially across local authorities in Scotland. These findings indicate children and young people may well receive different levels of service in different areas, with implications for both short and long term outcomes. While there is evidence of good work across the country, key questions remain about consistency and further, more in depth analysis of practice is required

Decoration of titania nanofibres with anatase nanoparticles as efficient photocatalysts for decomposing pesticides and phenols

Using a series of partial phase transitions, an effective photocatalyst with fibril morphology was prepared. The catalytic activities of these materials were tested against phenol and herbicide in water. Both H-titanate and TiO2-(B) fibres decorated with anatase nanocrystals were studied. It was found that anatase coated TiO2-(B) fibres prepared by a 45 h hydrothermal treatment followed by calcination were not only superior photocatalysts but could also be readily separated from the slurry after photocatalytic reactions due to its fibril morphology

Connecting key competencies and social inquiry in primary social studies pedagogy: initial teacher education students' planning decisions and reflections.

Over 2007-2009 we have worked with the national curriculum's key competencies to establish their place and purpose in the social sciences learning area. As a result, our initial teacher education (ITE) primary social studies programmes involve pedagogy that conceives key competencies as analogous to social inquiry thinking and skills processes. Our team was keen to research ways ITE students identify and embed key competencies in their social inquiry planning decisions. The research also sought student reflection of how engagement with key competencies might influence their future social studies teaching and learning. The article offers a storying of ways the curriculum element of key competencies has been developed, implemented, researched and reflected upon within ITE primary social studies curriculum

Love thy neighbour: proxemic bias in the voting strategy of contestants in the TV quiz-show "The Weakest Link"

We observed the pattern of voting in the first round of 72 episodes of the UK version of the TV quiz-show „The Weakest Link‟ (WL). The first round culminated as each of the nine contestants carried out an eight-alternative-forced-choice task by voting for one of their peers as the WL. Rudimentary probability theory was used to generate the frequencies of votes that would be expected purely due to chance for all eight relative positions of voter-to-candidate spatial relationships. The observed frequencies from the episodes were then compared to the expected pattern. Consensus, the number of contestants voting for the eventual WL, was also recorded in each of the 72 first rounds. Two main findings emerged:- i.) contestants avoided voting their direct neighbour as the WL, although the propensity to vote for a peer was not a simple function of distance per se; ii.) the „neighbour-avoidance‟ effect increased as the group consensus as to the identity of the WL decreased

the wall occupies a space too

This project, entitled the wall occupies a space too, is a creative exploration of the self and the surrounding world. Poetry has been a way for me to explore my thoughts and feelings in order to better understand myself, and to share my perspective and experiences with others. Moreover, it has been a way for me to express my feelings and momentarily free myself from the chains of society by recognizing and cultivating my relationship with the natural world. Much like Anne Sexton’s and Sylvia Plath’s work, because of this focus on the self and in revealing and admitting personal thoughts and feelings, most of the poetry in this manuscript is confessional. I conclude this thesis with a brief exploration of how poetry can be used as a therapeutic practice. Writing confessional and lyric poetry has been helpful for me insofar as improving my mood and seeing things from a more positive point of view. Indeed, generally, so long as one focuses their writing on a real event and writes about it in a narrative form, it can help improve their mood or mental state (Pennebaker & Seagal, 1999)