Special and inclusive education in the Eastern Caribbean: policy practice and provision     

Ann Cheryl Armstrong  Derrick Armstrong  Carlyle Lynch  Sonia Severin 《International Journal of Inclusive Education》2013,17(1):71-87

The countries of the Eastern Caribbean have for more than a decade been committed to the implementation of a common educational reform strategy. At the heart of this strategy has been the policy of 'education for all', which includes establishing educational support services for children with special educational needs. In the past, many disabled children and children with learning difficulties have been excluded from the education system in these countries. For many more children, attendance at school has not given meaningful access to educational opportunities. This article discusses research carried out by the authors and reports on the implementation of the Reform Strategy and on the barriers to inclusive education that persist in the region.  相似文献   

On-chip collection of particles and cells by AC electroosmotic pumping and dielectrophoresis using asymmetric microelectrodes     

Melvin EM  Moore BR  Gilchrist KH  Grego S  Velev OD 《Biomicrofluidics》2011,5(3):34113-3411317

The recent development of microfluidic "lab on a chip" devices requiring sample sizes <100 μL has given rise to the need to concentrate dilute samples and trap analytes, especially for surface-based detection techniques. We demonstrate a particle collection device capable of concentrating micron-sized particles in a predetermined area by combining AC electroosmosis (ACEO) and dielectrophoresis (DEP). The planar asymmetric electrode pattern uses ACEO pumping to induce equal, quadrilateral flow directed towards a stagnant region in the center of the device. A number of system parameters affecting particle collection efficiency were investigated including electrode and gap width, chamber height, applied potential and frequency, and number of repeating electrode pairs and electrode geometry. The robustness of the on-chip collection design was evaluated against varying electrolyte concentrations, particle types, and particle sizes. These devices are amenable to integration with a variety of detection techniques such as optical evanescent waveguide sensing.  相似文献   

Surviving organizational tolerance of sexual harassment: an exploration of resilience,vulnerability, and harassment fatigue     

Jessica L. Ford  Sonia R. Ivancic 《Journal of Applied Communication Research》2020,48(2):186-206

ABSTRACT

Although reports of workplace sexual harassment share various similarities, victims uniquely react and assign meaning to these events. Using Weick’s sensemaking theory coupled with Lazarus and Folkman’s model of coping, this study examines the role of organizational tolerance toward sexual harassment and its influence on victim resilience, coping, harassment fatigue, and perceived vulnerability to future sexual harassment. Survey results from 187 victims of workplace sexual harassment indicate that organizational tolerance of sexual harassment is a significant predictor of victim vulnerability, resilience, and harassment fatigue. Specifically, organizations that are more tolerant of sexual harassment are associated with higher victim vulnerability to future harassment and harassment fatigue, as well as lower resilience. Additionally, victims who responded to harassment using problem-focused coping were significantly more resilient, while formally reporting sexual harassment was associated with lower victim resilience. Overall, results illustrate the complexity of addressing sexual harassment from both an organizational and individual perspective.  相似文献   

Who benefits from public spending on higher education in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa?     

Sonia Ilie 《Compare》2018,48(4):630-647

Most countries are far from achieving the new sustainable development target of equal access to higher education by 2030, with those in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa furthest behind. This raises questions about the allocation of public resources across the education system to promote equity. We use data from Demographic and Health Surveys and UNESCO Institute for Statistics in 31 countries in these regions to assess who benefits from public spending on education. Our results reveal an overall pattern of pro-rich education spending, increasing with education level. We find that this pattern can be traced to an allocation of resources to higher education that is disproportionate to the sub-sector’s size: even when higher education spending overall represents a small proportion of total educational expenditure, per-capita expenditure is extremely high. Given that the richest predominantly gain access to higher education, the current spending patterns are likely to reinforce wealth-driven education inequalities.  相似文献   

Understanding productivity dynamics: A task taxonomy approach     

Tiago Fonseca  Francisco Lima  Sonia C. Pereira 《Research Policy》2018,47(1):289-304

As job markets have been polarizing, firms have been changing their labor inputs. By using matched employer–employee data for Portugal, we examine whether labor market polarization has occurred within or across firms and how labor input upgrades have contributed to overall productivity growth. We develop a firm taxonomy based on worker's occupational data. Firms can be focused on one task – Abstract, Manual or Routine – on a combination of tasks, or none. Results show that Abstract firms are the most productive and their share has increased over time. Manual firms, the least productive, have had a stable share throughout the period. Routine firms have seen their share decline over time. The dynamic decomposition of the estimated productivity reveals that productivity growth is propelled by increased market shares of the most productive incumbents and exiting of the least productive, especially for Abstract firms. Notwithstanding these productivity growth drivers, they fail to avert the productivity stagnation observed in Portugal between 2004 and 2009 due to the overall decline in productivity of incumbent firms, especially Routine. We discuss the policy implications of our results which are relevant to other European economies also lagging behind in terms of knowledge and innovation capabilities.  相似文献   

The color of innovative and sustainable leadership: Learning from teacher leaders     

Sonia Nieto 《Journal of Educational Change》2007,8(4):299-309

In this article, I address how teachers in urban and suburban U.S. schools with multicultural and multilingual student populations demonstrate leadership both within their classrooms and schools as well as outside of them. Based on research with U.S. public school teachers in two projects (Nieto What keeps teachers going? New York: Teachers College Press 2003, Why we teach. New York: Teachers College Press 2005), various roles that teachers have in initiating, putting into practice, and sustaining change in schools are described. Implications for policymakers and administrators are then briefly explored.  相似文献   

The influence of the family educational scenario on internet use of primary and secondary school children / La influencia del escenario educativo familiar en el uso de internet en los niños de primaria y secundaria     

Sonia Padilla  Elisa Rodríguez  Míriam Álvarez  Alezandra Torres  Arminda Suárez  María-José Rodrigo 《Infancia y Aprendizaje》2015,38(2):402-434

Abstract

With the aim of studying the impact of the internet in the home, this paper analyses how the physical component (where and with whom) and attitudinal component (who decides what the child is to see on the internet and motivations for internet use) of the family educational scenario influence the frequency of internet use and diversity of uses, as reported by parents. The participants included 711 parents of children in primary and secondary school. Results showed that being in secondary school, using the internet in privacy at home, without company, internet content under the child’s control, and parental motivations based on the internet being used as a means for the child to relax, predicted higher frequency of internet use. Some of these factors, as well as the presence of peers and new parental attitudes related to the use of the internet for social and learning purposes, predicted a greater variety of uses, suggesting a more appropriate family scenario. The practical implications for parental education on this matter are described.  相似文献   

Visual representations of academic misconduct: Enhancing information literacy skills     

Sonia R. Ivancic  Angela M. Hosek 《Communication Teacher》2017,31(2):116-124

Courses: This unit activity is suited for courses with research and source citation components, such as the Basic Communication; Interpersonal, and Organizational Communication courses.

Objectives: Students will (a) visually interpret and analyze instances of plagiarism; (b) revise their work to use proper citations and reduce instances of plagiarism; and (c) understand source citation as a form of academic honesty.  相似文献   

Communicating openness in deliberation     

Leah Sprain  Sonia Ivancic 《Communication monographs》2017,84(2):241-257

Normative and practical accounts of deliberative democracy cite open-mindedness as a key feature of good deliberation. Yet scholars have often focused on attitude change or self-report measures to empirically demonstrate openness. This paper draws on grounded practical theory to understand openness as a discursive stance in public deliberation. Openness is used to address four practical problems encountered in deliberation: disagreement, opinion formation, dysfunctional community problem-solving, and deliberative sense making. Indicating openness and expressing attitude change are different discursive practices. Expecting participants to refrain from forming opinions before deliberation may be naïve. Instead, participants’ eagerness to make sense of deliberation by invoking shared understanding and openness should be used to develop meta-consensus.  相似文献   

Open to critique: predictive effects of academic outcomes from a bridging/foundation programme on first-year degree-level study     

Elana Curtis  Erena Wikaire  Yannan Jiang  Louise McMillan  Robert Loto  Sonia Fonua 《Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education》2017,42(1):151-167

Bridging/foundation programmes are often provided by tertiary institutions to increase equity in access and academic performance of students from under-served communities. Little empirical evidence exists to measure the effectiveness of these bridging/foundation programmes on undergraduate academic outcomes. This research identifies the predictive effect of academic outcomes achieved within a bridging/foundation programme, targeted towards indigenous and ethnic minority students, on first-year degree-level outcomes. Overall performance within the bridging/foundation programme was positively associated with increasing Grade Point Average (GPA), ‘Core 4’ GPA and passing all courses in first year. However, mixed associations were identified between feeder bridging/foundation courses and their intended first year course counterparts. These findings support the continued provision of bridging/foundation education; however, curricular reform within the bridging/foundation programme was required. Key developments included: restructuring course delivery; increasing constructive alignment across the curriculum; increasing cultural content within western science-orientated courses; introduction of cross-curricular assessment and use of additional innovative teaching and learning activities. Additional challenges remain for degree programmes to explore how they can change in order to better support indigenous and ethnic minority student success within first-year tertiary study.  相似文献