Letteratura scientifica selezionata sul tema "Decentralization in government – Scotland – Study and teaching"

The problem of power decentralization is up to date in a modern political science. We can trace its historical genesis first in European and further in the USA political ideas. Decentralization of power was considered along with the study of a perfect state system, civil society and local self-government. It is argued that the major part of successful process of power decentralization in the Western Europe was due to the idea nature for their political culture. The article attempts to retrace the history of the idea of power decentralization. As a background of the investigations of such thinkers as J. Bodin, J. Althusius, J. Locke, J.-J. Rousseau, C.-L. Montesquieu, R. Owen, C. Fourier, J. S.Mill, T. Jefferson, A. de Tocqueville and M. Dragomanov were thoroughly investigated. The paper also considers the modern definitions of power decentralization. Likewise the value of structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism and constructivism are argued in terms of further surveys of power decentralization. To conclude, the author opines that civil servants training, their theoretical teaching and moral education have to become the main objectives in perspective investigations. Furthermore, the success of power decentralization depends not only on devoting authority by central government, but also on capacity of its implementation by deputies on the local level. Keywords: Decentralization of power, deconcentration of power, administrative and political decentralization, classical and non-classical philosophy, structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism, construc-tivism

This study aimed to describe and analyze the implementation of decentralization in educational management in Sawahlunto, specifically in School Based Management (SBM) at the level of secondary education. It uses the concept of decentralization, Educational Management, and School-Based Management (SBM). This study applies a qualitative approach design of descriptive analysis case study and collecting the data by interviewing and documentation. Informants were selected by purposive sampling. The study shows the implementation of decentralization in educational management particularly in the implementation at the level of secondary education must be completed so it can be more optimal. In its implementation efforts, carried out the stages to improve the performance of school management organizations, the management of human resources, teaching-learning process, administrative resources, Educational Services School-Based Management, and Quality Improvement of Education and Manpower Education. The local government is currently implementing the three pillars of educational development. In accordance with the Local Government Work Plan (RKPD), School-Based Management Improvement Program is one of the Educational Department programs. It is one form of decentralization in educational management, the implementation is expected to improve the quality of education in Sawahlunto at every level of education

This paper explores the relationship between established teachers’ professional learning and their use of practitioner enquiry, or action research, as a means of improving the quality of their classroom teaching. It reports on one aspect of a ten-month pilot study jointly funded by the Scottish Government and the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) to explore means of evaluating the impact of the Chartered Teacher initiative on pupil learning. Whilst the study found evidence for the beneficial effects of teachers’ engagement in practitioner research, as part of the requirement for the completion of Chartered Teacher programmes, it also raised a number of issues as to exact nature of participants’ learning and whether current approaches to the use of practitioner research in teacher education need to be revised.

In 2014, the newly inaugurated Government of Panama launched the Panamá Bilingüe initiative, considering that sustainable development demanded taking emergency measures to improve the teaching of English in public schools. The program is designed to impact at least 250,000 students in a five-year period, gradually training approximately ten thousand pre-service and experienced English teachers. Using a narrative inquiry method, twelve teachers who sojourned for eight weeks in the United States, England, and Scotland under the program were interviewed after their return, to study their perceptions of the benefits and challenges of cultural and linguistic immersion on EFL teacher development, and how it specifically affected their teaching skills. The teachers appreciated practicing English in an immersion environment, learned new teaching techniques, and reflected on their prior knowledge and practices. Nevertheless, they felt that the ESL approach prevalent at the host universities responds to needs that differ from those they deal with in Panama, where the low proficiency of primary school teachers and inadequate school facilities are major obstacles to teaching and learning English.

The main purpose of the article is to analyze the devolutionary processes in Great Britain, which have intensified and institutionalized since the late twentieth century and continue to the present days, as well as their impact on the political and socio-economic development of its member countries – England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Theoretical and methodological basis of the study are scientific methods and methodological approaches to understanding the process of interaction of public authorities under conditions of devolution. An important condition of the chosen research strategy is the observance of the principles of objectivity, multifactoriality and systematicity. The study is based on methodological principles of a systematic approach. Using a systems approach makes it possible to study the interaction of public authorities in the UK in the context of devolution as a single system. Based on the fact that devolution involves the creation of certain institutions, as well as institutional adaptation to a management system that adapts to new conditions, the main methodological approach to analysis was the institutional approach. The article emphasizes that for a long time the United Kingdom has been a model of decentralized political governance based on the culture of civil society and the representation of local interests in the national government. To a large extent, Britain's sustainable development depends on a periodic political compromise. It can alleviate the main contradiction of the British political system – the dichotomy of the principles of the supremacy of parliament and regional self-government. It is proved that the decentralization of public administration in the UK means the devolution of central government and increasing the responsibility of local government in the expansion and development of various forms of interaction between state and society. In general, the process of decentralization of power in the UK is complex and ambiguous one. The process of devolution in the UK is characterized by asymmetry, as evidenced by the lack of legislative powers of England. In this context, it is stated that the procedure of interaction between public authorities at different levels is not well established. Today there is a significant number of control functions, levers of administrative and financial pressure on central offices, as well as the lack of clear recommendations by which local authorities could determine what is within their competence and address urgent issues more effectively.

Abstract Introduction Additional Cost of Teaching for Pharmacy (ACTp) funding from Scottish Government supports the development of experiential learning (EL) placements for student pharmacists [1]. Interprofessional learning (IPL) has been built into initial education for many healthcare professionals [2]. In 2019, a National Pharmacy EL Stakeholder event recommended exploring the further development of IPL within EL for the MPharm. Aim To scope existing IPL in EL and explore the feasibility for further development within the MPharm in Scotland Methods Online qualitative interviews were conducted with key stakeholders from Schools of Pharmacy, NHS Education for Scotland, EL sites, and Scottish health boards. All were involved in the development/delivery of these activities. The interview schedule was developed by the research team, reviewed for face and content validity, piloted prior to use, and modified based on early interviews. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and independently thematically analysed by two researchers. Interviews continued until data saturation and good representation from all settings were achieved. All ethical approvals were sought prior to the interviews. Results Twenty interviews were conducted with three key themes emerging; (1)current IPL within EL activities, (2)future developments, and (3)perceptions of enablers and barriers to developing/delivering IPL within EL. There were limited examples of existing IPL within EL activities including: a pilot pharmacy longitudinal clerkship and hospital-based pharmacy/medical student IPL week. Some stakeholders indicated that current IPL involves mainly campus-based activities but other EL based initiatives were planned but not yet implemented. Respondents indicated that future developments should be carefully planned in collaboration with other stakeholders and tailored to students’ stage of study to ensure their success. There was significant support for incorporating IPL within EL initiatives as part of the MPharm course to complement traditional ways of teaching. “I think if we don't do it, we're missing a big trick… Doing something in a classroom or doing something within a small tutorial is a very false way of learning, whereas in practice, where they're going to end up working together, it seems ideal.” Many enablers were highlighted mainly relating to the expected benefits of such activities on students, facilitators, patients, and the healthcare system. Logistics and planning difficulties were perceived to be barriers to implementation of IPL within EL. “We've tried to do it, it was with the medical school and they were receptive to it, but the logistics just didn't work out… when you've got two very different timetables to try and bring together, it is very, very difficult to do.” Conclusion Pharmacy stakeholders highlighted that the majority of IPL currently undertaken in Scotland is not based in EL settings but they supported developing it. Enablers and barriers articulated highlight the need for careful planning of these activities. A strength of this study is it involved a broad range of key stakeholders from across Scotland ensuring representativeness of views and ideas. A limitation may be that, given the Scottish focus, findings may lack direct transferability to other countries. Future research should focus on designing a framework for developing and implementing IPL within EL in Scotland. References 1. NHS Education for Scotland, 2020. Experiential learning for student pharmacists in Scotland. [online]. Edinburgh: NHS Education for Scotland. Available from: https://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/our-work/experiential-learning-for-student-pharmacists-in-scotland/ [Accessed 07/10/2020]. 2. Barr H. Interprofessional Education-The Genesis of Global Movement. 2015. https://www.caipe.org/resources/publications/barr-h-2015-interprofessional-education-genesis-global-movement. [Accessed 4 Aug 2020]

Learning for Sustainability (LfS), as conceived by Education Scotland and the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), spans all curricular areas and it is positioned as the responsibility of all - teachers, learners and educational leaders (Scottish Government 2016). Yet, such comprehensiveness has the potential to render the term and its purpose equivocal and perfunctory. Our experience working with teachers in this area suggests that the concept and term ‘Learning for Sustainability’ are not widely understood, leading teachers to raise questions about the relevance of LfS policy in relation to their everyday professional practice. Beginning from this position our paper explores the tension between the policy vision and the professional reality. We follow three lines of enquiry: first, we outline the existing policy architecture in Scotland; second, we examine the basic understanding of the terminology and conceptual understanding of LfS across Scotland through a recent study conducted by Kirk (2017); third, we review a professional learning programme we have developed and deployed across Scotland. We suggest four key areas for change that would support the enactment of LfS within Scottish schools and so realise some of the potential the LfS agenda affords - namely, high quality professional learning, motivated staff working with others, interdisciplinary learning tailored to the needs of the students, and leadership within a clear strategic framework. We conclude with a note of caution, that although there is evidence that LfS can have a positive impact on attainment, helping learners to strive towards ‘sustainable futures’ is too important to be reduced to the current narrow national focus on attainment outcomes.

The reform of secondary education has been a fundamental part of national educational policy in Argentina since the beginning of the 1990s. Along with the decentralization of responsibilities to provinces and a new structure of primary and secondary education, changes have affected the areas of curriculum design, teaching methods, teacher training, school management, and information and evaluation systems. This study describes the main policies on secondary education implemented during the last decade, including their objectives and rationales. Focusing on how the reform can be seen to relate to issues of access, quality and equity, the study presents an analysis of its implementation, and discusses some of its effects. We argue that political, economic and technical factors as well as the strategies chosen by the national government resulted in a limited implementation, and we highlight the need for considering more focused reform strategies, alternative models of teacher training, and a more active involvement of teachers.

Twenty percent of Scotland’s primary schools have fewer than 50 pupils each and these very small schools were the subject of research in 1996 and 2006 funded by the Scottish Government. This article draws upon findings from the follow-up conducted in 2006. It is based upon a postal survey of 100 very small schools and interviews in nine case study schools. Its aim is two-fold: first, to provide a profile of very small schools in Scotland; and second to identify the difficulties inherent in the role of teaching headteacher. By way of a conclusion, the author argues that although small schools may not be endangered, their structure and the role of their headteachers may have to change.

Nearly a decade into the new millennium, the teaching of political literacy as a strand of education for citizenship has taken on a new urgency throughout much of the world. In most developed countries there is now a feeling that young people need to develop a healthy respect for democratic procedures and consequent methods of participating to shape modern society and an understanding that real political literacy means moving beyond the strictures of traditional civics courses. The introduction into places as far apart as Scotland and Hong Kong of aspects of political education in primary schools (Cheung & Leung 1998; Maitles 2005) has itself reflected a worry (almost a moral panic) in government circles about youth alienation, albeit with some debate as to whether schools should be the places where this is developed. This paper examines the attitudes of young people towards politics, explains some peculiarities of education in Scotland and reports on research into the knowledge, interest, cynicism/trust and values/attitudes of approximately 1600 pupils – 50% of whom study Modern Studies whilst the others study history or geography. The paper explores whether those pupils studying Modern Studies have a stronger basis in some elements of political literacy than those who do not study it. The results suggest that Modern Studies students have more knowledge, greater interest and are less cynical but, that in terms of values, there is no discernible difference.

Education researchers have examined whether innovative education and training initiatives might assist in promoting a nation's economic growth. A focus upon Chinese higher vocational education (CHVE) offers an opportunity to study these factors, as CHVE plays an important role in China's educational, economic, and social development. The role of CHVE is to contribute a skilled workforce to the knowledge economy; however, it faces challenges from cultural traditions, teaching/curriculum, and funding issues. The question of how CHVE might better serve social and economic development is of concern to both the nation and government because it is associated with the nation's future economic reform. Through analysis of government policy, the author discusses the development of CHVE as having four major stages with different policy emphases. The new policy reform addresses movement towards optimization of teaching/curriculum, development of decentralization/localization, improvement of industry cooperation, and enhancement of internationalization.

This paper describes a primary-school (ages 5-11) project implemented in Scotland, based on the United States research from Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI), and as envisioned by Dr. Lio Moscardini. Three schools, two public and one private, participated in this two-year long initial study that focused on helping teachers to understand the developmental stages pupils naturally progress through in order to understand the mathematics for their class level as defined by the Scottish government. This project provides evidence that a rise in attainment can occur by focusing on teachers’ knowledge, pedagogy, and pedagogical content knowledge in relation to mathematics rather than by focusing on attainment itself. Additionally, this project addresses the teaching and learning of a diverse group of students, i.e. inclusion, low socio-economics.