14th October 2022   (online and in person)      Register Here
Free to attend

Jointly Hosted by the YTL Centre for Politics, Philosophy and Law, KCL & 

International Resource Group for Global Health Justice (IRG-GHJ)

Brief on Cambodia's education system and learning outcomes (pre-pandemic) by Dr. Chea Phal, Senior Research Fellow, Cambodian Development Resource Institute (CDRI)

October 21, 2022
11:30 AM (ICT or Cambodia time)/ 10 AM IST/ 3:30 PM Canberra time

Agenda:

Paper presentation by Dr. Chea Phal

Observations by Dr. Phal on the pandemic & capabilities

Discussant remarks by Dr. Laksh Venkataraman (Co-coordinator, Education TG HDCA)

Q&A

Paper title:
Cambodian Secondary School Teachers' Readiness for Online Teaching During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract:

Like other countries around the world, schools in Cambodia were forced to switch from the traditional physical classroom to online and distance learning during the Covid-19-related school closure. Yet, teachers in Cambodia were far from ready to transition to virtual classrooms. The transition is even more challenging in disadvantaged schools where resources and internet connection are poor. This study intends to examine teacher readiness in adopting EdTech in online teaching as well as factors associated with readiness in the context of secondary schools in Cambodia. Drawing on the survey data of 687 teachers at 43 secondary schools, the study employs regression analysis to identify factors correlated with teachers’ readiness for online teaching. To assess teacher readiness, we adopted the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), a framework developed by Mishra and Koehler (2006). Cambodian secondary teachers rate their pedagogical knowledge and content knowledge relatively high, while they consider their technological knowledge is rather low. The regression results suggest that at the individual level, factors that influence teacher readiness include gender, age, perceived challenge, and perceived effectiveness of online teaching. Experience teaching at private schools and level of student-teacher interaction are also found to be positively associated with teacher readiness, while pre-service initial training and in-service training are found to have no or little influence on teacher readiness. Teachers with access to computers seem to demonstrate a higher level of readiness for online teaching. Female teachers, senior teachers, and teachers in provincial schools are less ready than their counterparts for online teaching, yet physical resources equipped at schools do not help increase the technological readiness of teachers. To make Cambodian education more resilient, there is an urgent need to revisit teacher training curricula including inservice training courses with special attention to female and older teachers.

Keywords: Technological readiness, TPACK, edtech, Covid-19, secondary education, professional development

Download the paper

Zoom details

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85172330057?pwd=Mmt1RW13ZTZhekZuQzRDUjJDMnpJQT09

Meeting ID: 851 7233 0057

Passcode: 834033

Dr. Donna Vaughan
Aug 3, 2022, at 2:30 pm AEST

Presented by the Asia-Pacific Regional Network

Dr. Donna Vaughan, President – Partners in Micro-development Inc., holds a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Law, Masters in Social Science – International Development, and a PhD in Development Studies. The first part of her career was in the corporate sector, and the latter in academia. Donna has taught development studies, political economy, and public policy (post-grad) at the University of New South Wales in Australia. In 2004, she and her partner, Dr. Mahesan Kandaiya, launched Partners in Micro-development Inc. (PIMD), a 100% volunteer-based NGO working in Sri Lanka to improve the learning and teaching of English in primary grades in village schools. Donna is now dedicated full-time to the work of PIMD. Visit Donna's Linked In page.

The Zoom link for the meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85242563005

Abstract: Language has been a divisive issue in Sri Lanka since the British colonial period. There are two official national languages representing the two main ethnic groups – Tamil and Sinhala. The national languages are referred to as 1NL and 2NL, representing the individual’s mother tongue and other national language respectively. English is positioned as a ‘link’ language intended to bridge the language divide between the different ethnic groups in the country as well as meeting other national objectives relating to a broader communicative competency. Outside the major urban areas, one or other national language is spoken but seldom both. Even though students are supposed to learn both languages during their school education, the shortage of 2NL language teachers in many parts of the country means that this is seldom achieved. Student achievement in English at the end of primary and secondary school remains poor, and inadequate to meet the national objectives and individual aspirations for higher education and participation in a 21st century national and global economy. The underlying cause of these poor educational outcomes is the politics of language in Sri Lanka pre- and post-Independence and the way in which this has shaped language policy, language education policy, pedagogy, and provision and allocation of resources in schools. As a consequence, there is significant inequity in language related capabilities throughout the country. This paper evaluates language policy, and language education policy in Sri Lanka, and proposes an approach for policy re-design using the capability approach (CA). In this particular application of the CA, the field of linguistics provides an explanatory theory that can be used to frame capabilities and valued functionings. Plurilingualism is proposed as both the benchmark for current policy evaluation and the anchor for policy re-design. The pre-colonial linguistic landscape in Sri Lanka was plurilingual (Canagarajah and Liyanage 2012, pp.49-65), and English, when introduced, became part of the mix. While plurilingualism is now a well-developed concept both in linguistic theory and increasingly in pedagogical practice, it is seldom explicitly targeted as a policy outcome (Lo Bianco 2018). This is true for both minority languages, and second or additional languages mandated for the opportunities they confer such as English in Sri Lanka. Piccardo and Galante (2018) argue the case for plurilingualism as a “social justice conceptual framework” for policy. If language policy in Sri Lanka were to explicitly re-adopt a plurilingual stance focused on 1NL, 2NL, and English, this would provide a theoretically grounded framework for language education policy, pedagogy, and teacher training. Finally, it would lay a foundation for a positive shift in attitude towards each of the three main languages.

Madrid, Spain
October 25–26, 2022

Organizing committee: Douglas J. Besharov (University of Maryland), Douglas M. Call (University of Maryland), Neil Gilbert (University of California, Berkeley), Javier Paez (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia), and Sagrario Segado (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia).

Around the globe, people are migrating to other countries and regions. Some are traveling alone (and looking for work, whether skilled and unskilled) and others are migrating as family (and extended family) units. Many are youths. In many developed countries, foreign-born populations have reached 15 percent and even 20 percent of the total population. While adding often much-needed workers to national economies, immigrant populations frequently have special needs for education, housing, and financial support, and often give rise to sharp political discord. Countries differ widely in how they handle authorized and unauthorized immigration, including employment, assimilation/integration, regularization, and citizenship. What is this experience writ large and in specific countries, and what can be learned from it?

The International Network for Social Policy Teaching and Research, the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, the University of California Berkeley Center for Comparative Family Welfare and Poverty Research, the European Research Center in Policies and Action on Minors and Migration, and the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia Department of Social Work will cosponsor a conference on the design and implementation of programs for migrants (especially for youth, but not limited to them).

The conference will be held at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) in Madrid, Spain, beginning with a dinner on Monday, 24 October, with the presentation of papers on Tuesday, 25 October and perhaps Wednesday, 26 October. In addition, after the main conference, there will be an optional trip to the European Research Center on Minors and Migration in Melilla, Spain. This is a Call for Papers for the conference and a Special Issue of the International Journal of Social Welfare or similar publication.

We invite papers on this topic generally as well as on the impact of immigration on specific national social welfare and social protection programs, including minimum wage, earning supplements, basic income programs, unemployment benefits and social assistance, disability programs, job skills and workforce development programs, and retirement policies and public pensions. (We would welcome a paper based on your previous publications, updated as appropriate.)

Of special interest are papers that address the needs of youthful migrants and their families.

Presenting at the conference is not required to have a paper considered for the Special Issue, and presenting at the conference does not bind authors to submit their papers for the Special Issue. Submitted papers will receive peer review according to standard processes.

Authors interested in having a paper considered for either the conference, the Special Issue, or both, should submit a two-page abstract—no later than July 18, 2022—using this form.

In the abstract, please indicate whether you could present at the conference.

Authors will be notified by August 1, 2022 of whether their abstract has been accepted for the conference and/or encouraged for submission to the Special Issue of the International Journal of Social Welfare or similar publication. The notification will include information on the conference and the deadline for submitting final papers (tentatively October 1, 2022). Conference papers will be circulated approximately two weeks before the conference.

Questions should be directed to Professor Sagrario Segado (ssegado@der.uned.es) and Professor Javier Paez (javier.paez@der.uned.es).

Please note that there will be a $100 conference registration fee.

Platform: Microsoft Teams

Click here to join the meeting

Date: Friday 20 May 2022

Time: 09h00 to 16h30 (SAST)

You are cordially invited to attend an early career researcher colloquium hosted by the SARChI Chair in Higher Education and Human Development (HEHD) research group at the University of the Free State. Please find the invitation and programme attached. 

Keynote address: Dr Emmanuel Ojo – University of the Witwatersrand: Acting Deputy Head (Postgraduate Studies) at the School of Education, and Faculty Chair: Transformation, Internationalisation, and Partnerships in the Faculty of Humanities

Papers will be presented by the postdoctoral research fellows in the HEHD research programme. HEHD PhD fellows and senior researchers will serve as session chairs and discussants.

Download the flyer and program here

Date: Wednesday, 18 May 2022

Time: 12pm (SA Time)

Venue: WITS Senate Room 2nd floor, Solomon Mahlangu House Wits Campus East, Jorissen Street, Braamfontein

This event will be live streamed on the WSG YouTube page:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbEw4c5AIlTBLxFahv8l9

The Wits Department of Politics and the Wits School of Governance invite you to the book launch of Amartya Sen by Professor Lawrence Hamilton - SA UK Bilateral Research Professor in Political Theory.

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen is one of the world’s best-known voices for the poor and the downtrodden, and an inspiration for the proponents of justice across the globe. He has contributed almost without peer to the study of economics, philosophy and politics, transforming social choice theory, development economics, ethics, political philosophy and Indian political economy, to list but a few. This book offers a much-needed introduction to Amartya Sen’s extraordinary variety of ideas.

A panel discussion will be hosted by the Head of the Wits School of Governance, Professor Mzukisi Qobo, and include Professor David Moore from the Anthropology and Development Studies department at the University of Johannesburg.

‘This concise, lucid and lively book will be of immense value to anyone
interested in Sen’s essential ideas.’ Jean Drèze, Delhi School of Economics

‘This is a real tour de force… a prefect introduction to one of the world’s
greatest minds.’ Thom Brooks, Durham University

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

September 16,17,18, 2022

The theme for 2022 is Leading Change Through Capacity Building for Social Innovation

Call for Papers: https://cleconference.wixsite.com/isirc-halifax

Submission deadline: April 25, 2022

“New threats to human security in the Anthropocene -- Demanding greater solidarity”

12 April 2022, 1500-1700 CEST (0900-1100 EDT)

HDCA THEMATIC GROUP ON HUMAN SECURITY

 The Human Development Report Office in UNDP published in February this year its Special Report on using and updating human security thinking -- “New threats to human security in the Anthropocene -- Demanding greater solidarity” (https://hdr.undp.org/en/2022-human-security-report).

It is a major book-length study of 188 pages, with a concise executive summary, (https://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/srhs2022_overview_en.pdf, available also in Japanese, French and Spanish). Additional resources can be found online at http://hdr.undp.org, including addenda, translations of the Report and the overview, and an interactive web version.

The Thematic Group on Human Security of the HDCA (Human Development and Capability Association) will hold a webinar on the Report, on 12 April 2022.

1. Report leader, Dr. Heriberto Tapia, plus members of the Report team, will present an overview of the Report’s purposes, main arguments, and hoped-for uses (circa 30 mins).
2. Three authors of background papers for the Report will present remarks (10-15 mins each) on the Special Report, with special reference to selected issues and arguments in their background papers:

• Andrew Crabtree (Copenhagen Business School) – paper on nature-based security and human subjective insecurity
• Oscar A. Gómez (Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University). Paper: “The position of crises in human development processes and thinking - Using the human security perspective in an era of transitions” – co-author Des Gasper. (Draft version is at: https://repub.eur.nl/pub/76016)
• John Morrissey (National University of Ireland). Paper: “Envisioning Security for a More-than-human World”.

3. Discussion – will be after each presentation, and further in the final section of the webinar.

Chair: Des Gasper (International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam).

The webinar will be conducted via Zoom. Registration is required – please use this link:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/webinar-on-the-2022-undp-hdro-special-report-on-human-security-tickets-311330336417

The language of the webinar is English.

We hope you will join us on April 12 !