Soft Options or Practical Reality? A Study of Practical Course Options for HSC Students in Seventh-day Adventist Schools in NSW

This study examines the perceptions of senior students in four Seventh-day Adventist schools in New South Wales toward the range of subject options available at their school. In particular the study focuses upon students’ perceived levels of satisfaction in relation to the availability of practical subjects. It also examines the nature of the factors involved in influencing students’ choice of subjects and their perceptions of the relative status of practical versus academic subjects. Finally, the study examines student choices in relation to their post-secondary aspirations. These aspects of subject options are examined in the light of the Seventh-day Adventist philosophy of education to establish whether there is consistency between their philosophy of a holistic approach to education and the options that are available to senior students. A questionnaire involving attitudinal items set against a 5-point Likert scale was used to generate data about their sense of satisfaction with the subject options at their school, about their feelings in relation to the status of practical versus academic subjects and their choice of subjects in relation to their future aspirations. These data were analysed using the SPSS statistical package. The results indicated that most students reported that they were adequately catered for in relation to subject offerings. However, there were pockets of concern about the limited subject options for practically oriented students for the HSC. A large number of students indicated that they chose their own subjects for the HSC and that they chose them with the aim of attending university. Student responses also indicated that there was a pervasive belief among the students that academic subjects were of greater worth than practical subjects and received higher recognition from the school. Hence, the recommendation was made that there is a need for more balanced approach in providing commendation and affirmation of student choice and performance in practical and academic subjects within Seventh-day Adventist schools. Finally, xii it is recommended that students’ satisfaction levels in relation to their subject options be constantly monitored to ensure student needs and desires are being met throughout the HSC

COVID-19 and gendered governance: countries led by women did not employ more stringent strategies than those led by men – but they did act faster

Mette Marie Staehr Harder and Christoffer Bugge Harder examine whether countries led by women applied more extensive measures to combat COVID-19 than those led by men. While they find no indications that the former applied more extensive health responses over time, OECD countries led by women did enact their respective maximum shutdown measures significantly more quickly than those led by men

Assessing the Impact of Parliamentary Design:The Case of the Danish Committe on Gender Equality

This article contributes to the literature on parliamentary design in general and the pioneer literature on parliamentary bodies specialized in gender equality in particular. It does so by establishing a frame for the critical assessment of the impacts of such an institutional design. Moreover, by using interviews and data on the behavior of committee members, it demonstrates the advantages of applying a mixed method within a field that has mostly relied on participant interviews. A systematic analysis of the impact of the Danish Committee on Gender Equality shows that although this particular committee has not succeeded in adding the perspective of gender equality to legislation, it has increased parliamentary control with the government. Furthermore, it has enabled much better interaction between parliament and civil society organizations

Incentives for food waste diversion:Exploration of a long term successful Chinese city residential scheme

There are no academic studies of incentives schemes for household recycling which are successful or useful on large scales in the longer term. For food waste sorting very few successful schemes have been reported, with or without incentives. Here the authors report findings about a two-year old, 23,000-household scheme in Nanjing, China, from an exploratory case study designed to identify key factors using observations, measurements, company data and interviews. Results indicate that residents were initially motivated by the incentives (e.g. points exchanged for eggs) and social influences, but habit was the key factor for maintaining their behaviour, and cited as the main reason they would continue if the incentives stopped. Interestingly, a perceived improvement in the community site’s cleanliness was also cited as an ongoing motivation, and social influences was not mentioned. The perceived success of the scheme was confirmed via measurements of participation rates (32%), the weight of food waste diverted (0.62kg per household), and estimates of the contamination rate (<1%) and food capture rate (30%) 22 months after start. This work identifies key factors for further studies of positive incentives as habit (and thus duration), site cleanliness, and variation in ranking with time of social norms

Can we improve indicator design for complex sustainable development goals? A Comparison of a Values-Based and Conventional Approach

A conceptual framework was constructed for United Nations’ complex Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 4.7 focusing on education for sustainable development (ESD), and used to analyse the usefulness and character of indicators produced from a values-based approach called ESDinds, compared to a UN process. The analysis shows that the latter generated very few indicators concerning the wider aspects of knowledge such as ‘critical thinking’ or ‘learning to learn’. The values-based approach, created for a different purpose, produced complementary if not better coverage of Target 4.7, including finely-developed concepts for competencies and less tangible aspects. It is suggested that the UN process would benefit from ESDinds design elements such as intersubjective and slightly disruptive elements, purposeful contextualisation at group level, and a holistic and inductive consideration of values. The use of a reference ‘fuzzy framework’ of slightly generalised proto-indicators suited for deep contextualisation locally is recommended, rather than any rigid global-level indicator with unclear local value. It is recommended that ESD practitioners immediately develop localised interpretations of valid measures for whatever final Target 4.7 indicator is selected by the UN, as this localisation process will itself cause important learning towards local ESD achievements