Storytelling Approaches to Program Evaluation: An Introductory Guide

Publication provides nonprofit health organizations with information and suggestions on how to collect and share stories as part of a program evaluation. Sections cover gathering stories, getting creative, digital storytelling, and how to incorporate stories into evaluation reports. Includes sample consent form

Everyday Tactics and the Carnavalesque: New Lenses For Viewing Resistance in Preschool

Tobin builds upon Steve Schultz\u27s argument that young children’s resisting authority in preschool is a rehearsal or training ground for resisting authority later in life. Using this perspective, this article turns to theories of power and resistance to help us understand everyday events in preschools, and to suggest implications for the choices we make as adults who work with young children

Addressing the Challenges of Child and Family Homelessness

Homeless children in families comprise the fastest-growing group of homeless persons in the United States. Indeed, the American Academy of Pediatrics considers homelessness to be an issue with which pediatricians should be concerned. In this article, we review existing literature to provide a background for researchers, policymakers, and social service providers hoping to understand the phenomenon of child and family homelessness and various strategies used to address it. We begin with a definition and description of the population of homeless families with children. We then offer a broad consideration of the effects of child and family homelessness, from physical health problems like malnutrition and increased incidence of infection to emotional and academic impacts. We end with a platform of policies and other action steps for addressing the problems of homelessness for children and their families

Reforma do sistema preescolar japonês: Estudo de caso e implementação de políticas

This is an ethnographic study of how two Japanese kindergartens are implementing the yōhoichigenka policy aimed at reforming the Japanese early childhood education system. The cases of these two kindergartens demonstrate what happens when a top-down mandate reaches the level of individual programs. The programs creatively find ways of responding to the reform mandate and to social change while maintaining what their administrators view as their pedagogical traditions. This paper also argues for the value of ethnographic methods to show how local programs are creative, resistant, and pragmatic in how they deal with top down pressures and directives. Este es un estudio etnográfico de cómo dos escuelas de pre-escolar japonesas están implementando la política yōhoichigenka para reformar el sistema de educación infantil japonesa. Los casos de dos escuelas de pre-escolar muestran lo que sucede cuando un mandato de las autoridades llega al nivel de los programas individuales. Estos programas creativamente encuentran sus propias maneras de responder al mandato de reformar y de cambios sociales mientras mantienen sus tradiciones pedagógicas. Este artículo también discute el valor de la etnografía para mostrar cómo los programas locales son creativos, resistentes y pragmáticos en cómo responden las presiones y directivas de las autoridades.Este é um estudo enográfico de como as escolas de pré-escolar estão a implementar a política yōhoichigenka para reformar o sistema de educação pré-escolar japonesa. Os casos de duas escolas de pré-escolar mostram que se sucede quando o governo exige uma reforma e esta chega ao nível dos programas individuais. Estes programas criam as suas próprias funções de resposta ao mandato de reformas e de mudanças sociais e mantem as suas tradições pedagógicas. Este artigo também discute o valor da etnografia para mostrar como os programas locais são criativos, resistentes e pragmáticos para responder as exigências e diretivas das autoridades

A Policy Agenda for Addressing Homelessness

Homelessness in the United States after World War II was primarily a problem of adult men, and initial attempts to address the problem were generally aimed at getting these men treatment for alcohol abuse and mental illness (Bahr, 1973). In the modern era of homelessness, however, the housing-displaced population also includes sober men and single women, families with children, and unaccompanied youth, necessitating distinct policies and programs to meet the needs of each group (National Center on Family Homelessness [NCFH], 2009). Before making policy decisions, however, it is imperative that we develop a better understanding of homelessness and what we know about how to address it. This article provides a foundation for researchers, policymakers, and educators by reviewing existing literature regarding policy strategies commonly enacted to address individual and family homelessness. It also identifies those practices believed to be most effective in helping people get and stay housed. After providing some introductory definitional and demographic information, we describe the methodology that guided our review. We then describe the main tenets of homeless policy in the United States as it applies to homeless individuals, and also to homeless families. These solutions tend to fall into one of three categories: attacking poverty, increasing the stock of housing, and providing social services

The use of stories and storytelling as knowledge sharing practices : a case study in the South African mining industry

A great deal has been written in the management literature concerning the field of knowledge management. Some of that literature has focused on the use of stories and storytelling, including for the sharing of knowledge. However, the field of knowledge management is relatively immature in South Africa. In particular within that field, there is not a clear understanding of the use of stories and storytelling for knowledge sharing within the country. The purpose of the study was to improve that understanding through research into a case study within the South African mining industry, with a focus on world-class performance. To assist in the performance evaluation of the case study organisation, a framework for world-class performance was developed and used as an analytical tool in conjunction with a research instrument that was based on the findings of the non-empirical research into the fields of knowledge management and stories and storytelling. The empirical research then focused on the activities of a particular community of practice within the case study organisation and sought to understand the way in which stories and storytelling were used to support the sharing of knowledge in the organisation, as a contributor to world-class performance. Whilst conducting the empirical research, assessment and analysis, it was identified that the case study organisation made use of a number of practices and tools to support the use of stories and storytelling, in particular graphical representations (storyboards) of the stories to complement their oral delivery. The analysis of the case study data indicated that a significant opportunity existed to improve the extent of world-class performance for the use of stories and storytelling and a number of recommendations were made in that regard.Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2007.Information Scienceunrestricte