Tracking "Yuwaan Gageets" : a Russian fairy tale in Tlingit oral tradition

Tracking "Yuwaan Gageets" has involved many levels of the collaborative process in folklore transmission and research. The borrowing and development of "Gageets" as a story in Tlingit oral tradition, as well as its discovery and documentation by folklorists, offer complex examples of collaboration. Neither the process of borrowing nor of documentation would have been possible without the dynamics of collaboration.Note: Dedicated to the Memory of Anny Marks / Shkaxwul.aat (1898-1963); Willie Marks / Keet Yaanaayi (1902-1981); Susie James / Kaasgeiy (1890-1980); Robert Zuboff / Shaadaax' (1893-1974). Issue title; "Native American Oral Traditions: Collaboration and Interpretation.

Luc Ferry, A Brief History of Thought: A Philosophical Guide to Living

Review of Luc Ferry, A Brief History of Though

Programme Impact Overview : [Malawi Renewable Energy Acceleration Programme (MREAP)]

The Malawi Renewable Energy Acceleration Programme (MREAP) was funded by the Scottish Government to explore multiple yet coordinated strands of work to improve prospects for renewable energy in Malawi. The programme ran from 2012 – 2015 and had two key outcomes: improving the enabling environment for renewable energy and improving access rates to affordable and appropriate energy for poor Malawians. Much of the emphasis of MREAP has been on demonstrating and improving the model for community energy in Malawi, especially in rural areas where electricity access rates are only 1%. This overview presents a selection of the imagery, reports, and data generated from MREAP that highlights the impact that has been produced

Ricoeur, Rawls, and Capability Justice

A review of Molly Harkirat Mann, Ricoeur, Rawls, and Capability Justice (London and New York: Continuum Books, 2012), pp. 232

Data-driven decision making in physical education : a case study

textThe purpose of this study was to explore the data-driven decision making process within the context of K-12 physical education. Although the topic has received extraordinary attention in other areas of education, it has yet to be investigated directly in physical education settings. A conceptual framework proposed by Mandinach, Honey, Light, and Brunner (2008) guided the investigation. Using a multi-site case study design, one school district previously awarded a Carol M. White Physical Education Program Grant served as the overarching case and eight schools within the district served as embedded cases. Eight physical education teachers, three district coordinators, one principal, and one school counselor participated in the study. Evidence was gathered through interviews, observations, documents, archival records, and artifacts. Analytic strategies such as pattern matching, examining rival explanations, and drawing diagrams were utilized to generate common themes within the data. Overall, findings indicated that physical education teachers collected substantial amounts of physical activity and fitness data aligned with policy requirements, often at the expense of data related to other important teaching domains. Evidence also indicated that teachers rarely transformed collected data into actionable knowledge. It seemed as though teachers were only collecting data because they were required to and held little value in the data once they were collected. Teachers reported that the data collection process was time-consuming and challenges associated with pedometers and information management systems served as barriers to the collection/organization process. In addition, professional development was not utilized to help teachers use data for effective teaching as district coordinators had limited access to teachers on designated professional development days. It is important to note that teachers had substantial concerns surrounding the validity and reliability of the data that were collected. This likely contributed to the low value that was placed upon data. Based upon the findings, ten recommendations for the enhancement of the DDDM process in physical education were generated. One of the most important recommendations is to provide physical education teachers with support in developing data literacy skills so they can take full advantage of the data they collect for the benefit of student learning.Curriculum and Instructio

Seven hundred million to one: Personal action in reversing language shift

The paper considers what influence a single person can have on language survival and transmission of knowledge, comparing and contrasting the situation of large languages such as Putonghua (traditionally called Mandarin Chinese, with 700 million speakers) and small languages such as Eyak with as few speakers as one. It examines the delights and dilemmas of such work, the practical results (such as texts and documents) and the spiritual rewards (mostly satisfaction), drawing examples from our own work of the last 35 years with Tlingit, and from the work of colleagues, especially Michael Krauss, in the context of a volume celebrating his 70th birthday and 45 years of work on behalf of Alaska Native languages and endangered indigenous languages around the world, especially in the circumpolar north. The paper is by design an informal and non-technical address to the general reader, especially members of communities whose indigenous languages are endangered.L’article considère l’influence qu’une personne peut avoir sur une langue qui lutte pour sa survie linguistique et sur la transmission de cette langue, en comparant et contrastant la situation des langues répandues, telles que le putonghua (plus traditionnellement appellé le chinois mandarin, avec 700 millions de locuteurs) et des langues peu répandues, telles que la langue eyak que seulement une personne parle. L’article examine les joies et les dilemmes qu'apportent de tels travaux, les résultats pratiques (i.e. textes et documents) et les récompenses spirituelles (principalement des satisfactions) tirés d’exemples de nos propres travaux des dernières 35 années à étudier la langue tlingit, et des travaux de nos collègues, spécialement Michael Krauss, dans le contexte d’un volume célébrant son 70e anniversaire et aussi ses 45 ans de travaux au nom des différentes langues des Autochtones de l’Alaska et des langues indigènes en voie de disparition autour du monde, spécialement autour du cercle polaire de l’hémisphère nord. L’article a un but non-formel et non-technique et s’adresse à tous les lecteurs, spécialement aux membres des communautés dont les langues indigènes sont en voie de disparition

System usage trends for off-grid renewable energy users in developing communities

With 1.3 billion people currently lacking access to electricity and a significant share of new rural access in the next 15 years expected to be off-grid (70% of total), efforts to ensure the sustainability of these systems is paramount. Transferring technologies that exhibit both scalability and appropriateness for the context, or likewise, developing such technologies is key objective for engineers interested in energy for development. Remote monitoring allows for near real-time monitoring and analysis of off-grid systems and provides several channels for improvement in sustainability of these projects including during operation and as a research tool. With the current portfolio of off-grid deployments, little empirical data are typically available for load estimation, load growth and analysis of consumer behavior resulting in heavier dependence on potentially imprecise assumptions. we seek to demonstrate the value of captured data in improving understanding of how off-grid systems actually operate and how differences in uses impact that operation. The data set includes seven original and individual off-grid systems in Malawi and Kenya that were fitted with remote monitoring systems. All systems are solar-PV but represent a range of different use cases from primary schools, restaurants, small businesses and health centers