Educational Policy in African Colonial Contexts: The Case of Instructional Media in Southern Rhodesia (1930-1980)

The colonisation of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) by the British in 1890 profoundly affected the development of the country. One of the enduring influences of colonialism has been the introduction of a state-directed formal education system. The history of the colonial educational policy was largely shaped and constrained by the values and assumptions of a white racial elite, determined to maintain a socio-economic and political dominance over other ethnic groups in the country

Designing online learning environments for professional development

Internet-based technologies have expanded the range of options for teacher professional development. This chapter focuses on the design of online learning environments for teacher professional development. The empirical foundations of the work are based on online courses that the author has designed and taught to science teachers. The course participants have been practicing teachers with at least 2 years of experience. The theoretical foundations of the course design are grounded in assumptions about adult learners. Malcolm Knowles (The modern practice of adult education, 1980) identified several key characteristics of adult learners. Among them are the following: (1) adult learners are autonomous, self-directed, and strongly goal oriented; (2) adult learners have accumulated a foundation of life experiences and knowledge and have a need to connect learning to this knowledge and experience base; and (3) adult learners are practical and have a strong preference for learning that is most useful to their work. In addition to that, it has been recognized that teachers are usually isolated and have a professional need to interact and learn from fellow practitioners The new technologies afford opportunities for creating communities of practice among geographically dispersed practitioners (Fishman and Davis, The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences, 535-550, 2006). © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010

In-school reform in high-need schools: Teaching the next generation

© 2016 Sense Publishers. All Rights Reserved. The Common Core State Standards Initiative has provided renewed impetus to school reform. Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are intended to more clearly align the school curriculum in English-language arts and mathematics with the expectations of colleges, workforce training programs and employers. They are also intended to promote equity through the provision of quality education to all Americans (NGACBP, 2010)

A Case Study of Workers’ Development in a Technologically Changing Work Activity

© 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. The study addresses the problem of how to characterize individual workers’ development while they are engaged in a work activity that is changing. The site of study was a machine shop. Machining work has undergone rapid technological changes, with many of the changes occurring within the working lives of individuals. The work expands our understanding of cognition and shows it as multifaceted, embodying knowledge and skill, as well as identity formation. The work also contributes to a better understanding of how knowledge and skills generalize from one situation to another

Identity, Self-Interpretation and Workplace Change: An Investigation of the Work Activity of Machining

The objective of this work was to study the development of identity in changing contexts. The site of study was machining work in the automotive industry. Machining is an economically critical activity undergoing rapid technological change, with the changes occurring within the working lives of individuals. The development of individuals was considered within the context of the culturally organized human activities in which they occurred. The informants were skilled machinists working for a major automotive company in the United States. A developmental perspective, based on cultural historical theory, together with C. S. Pierce\u27s theory of sign generation, provided an explanatory framework for the development of identity as a self-regulatory higher psychological function. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Language policy in Zimbabwean education: Historical antecedents and contemporary issues

This article analyses issues pertaining to language policy in Zimbabwean education beginning with the establishment of formal education under colonial rule. English is the official language of business, government and education, and the dominant language in the media. Official policy, before and after independence, has been characterised by continuities, rather than change, providing limited support for the development of indigenous languages. Furthermore, the capacity to support the development of indigenous languages has declined in recent years. The curriculum policy has progressively served to provide avenues for engaging and locking into limited networks of opportunities within and outside the country