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International Journal of Learning, Teaching And Educational Research

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research

The International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research is an open-access journal which has been established for the disChief Editor Dr. Antonio Silva Sprock, Universidad Central de semination of state-of-the-art knowledge in the Venezuela, Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of field of education, learning and teaching. IJLTER welcomes research articles from academics, edEditorial Board ucators, teachers, trainers and other practitionProf. Cecilia Junio Sabio ers on all aspects of education to publish high Prof. Judith Serah K. Achoka quality peer-reviewed papers. Papers for publiProf. Mojeed Kolawole Akinsola Dr Jonathan Glazzard cation in the International Journal of Learning, Dr Marius Costel Esi Teaching and Educational Research are selected Dr Katarzyna Peoples through precise peer-review to ensure quality, Dr Christopher David Thompson originality, appropriateness, significance and Dr Arif Sikander readability. Authors are solicited to contribute Dr Jelena Zascerinska to this journal by submitting articles that illusDr Gabor Kiss trate research results, projects, original surveys Dr Trish Julie Rooney Dr Esteban Vázquez-Cano and case studies that describe significant adDr Barry Chametzky vances in the fields of education, training, eDr Giorgio Poletti learning, etc. Authors are invited to submit paDr Chi Man Tsui pers to this journal through the ONLINE submisDr Alexander Franco sion system. Submissions must be original and Dr Habil Beata Stachowiak should not have been published previously or Dr Afsaneh Sharif be under consideration for publication while Dr Ronel Callaghan Dr Haim Shaked being evaluated by IJLTER. Dr Edith Uzoma Umeh Dr Amel Thafer Alshehry Dr Gail Dianna Caruth Dr Menelaos Emmanouel Sarris Dr Anabelie Villa Valdez Dr Özcan Özyurt Assistant Professor Dr Selma Kara Associate Professor Dr Habila Elisha Zuya

VOLUME 13

NUMBER 4

Special Issue

Table of Contents Does Body Awareness Influence Visual Spatial Intelligence? .......................................................................................... 1 Sandra Kaltner and Petra Jansen The Digital World of Education in Mauritius: Adapting the Mauritian Education System with the Pace of Technology ........................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Leena Subrun and Veerunjaysingh Subrun Human Capacity Development of Igala Youths in Higher Institution in Igala land for Skill Acquisition and Empowerment ...................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Joy U ETUBI e-Learning: Challenges and Solutions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A Case Study .................................................................................................... 33 Ashis K. Pani, M. Srimannarayana and R.K. Premarajan Provision of Quality Education Mauritius in Quest of Quality Education ................................................................... 41 Veerunjaysingh Subrun and Leena Subrun Effects of a One-Hour Creative Dance Training on Mental Rotation Performance in Primary School Aged Children ................................................................................................................................................................................. 49 Petra Jansen and Stefanie Richter On the Way to Phronesis: Delving into Stories of School Based Experiences of Pre-Service Teachers .................... 58 Swaleha Beebeejaun-Roojee and Nathalie Congo-Poottaren School Leaders as Progress Makers: Opening a New Vista for School Leadership in Mauritius ............................. 69 Nathalie Congo-Poottaren and Swaleha Beebeejaun-Rojee Exploring the potentials of Intercultural Education in sustaining Social Cohesion in Small Island Developing States ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 81 Jabeen Bibi Soobratty

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Special Issue, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 1-13, October 2015

Does Body Awareness Influence Visual Spatial Intelligence? Sandra Kaltner and Petra Jansen University of Regensburg Institute of Sport Science University Street 31 93053 Regensburg, Germany

Abstract. The embodiment approach suggests that processes in the body influence cognitive performance. Due to this in the present study, female patients with high body awareness-elite athletes and patients with Anorexia Nervosa- as well as healthy controls performed a mental rotation task with different kinds of stimuli. Mental rotation is the ability to imagine objects from different perspectives. The results show that both experimental groups revealed a better mental rotation performance than the control group in form of faster reaction times. This result is independent of the kind of stimuli, i.e., if the mental rotation requires the transformation of the self (egocentric) or the object (objectbased). We further found that BMI and IQ correlated with reaction time. Because there was no difference between the elite athletes (positive body awareness) compared to the patients with Anorexia Nervosa (negative body awareness) the results suggest that any occupation with the body relates to visual spatial intelligence. This result is discussed regarding its importance in the educational context. Keywords: Mental Rotation; Anorexia Nervosa; Embodiment; Elite Athletes.

Introduction The embodied cognition approach claims that many cognitive processes that were formerly defined as purely â&#x20AC;&#x153;cognitiveâ&#x20AC;? are also deeply rooted in bodyrelated experiences with the environment (Wilson, 2002). The main issue of the present study is to investigate the embodied nature of a specific cognitive ability called mental rotation in participants from whom we know that they are deeply occupied with their body, elite athletes as well as patients with Anorexia Nervosa. More specifically, we focused on two transformation types in mental rotation, object-based and egocentric transformations. In contrast to object-based transformations, egocentric transformations require the representation of the own body to solve the task. Consequently, participants who are occupied with their body due to training or during restricted eating to lose weight, should ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

show a better egocentric mental rotation performance compared to object-based ones. It has to be investigated, if there is a difference between participants who have a positive picture of their body (elite athletes) or those who show a negative one.

Mental rotation Mental rotation is a specific visuo-spatial ability. This involves the process of imagining how a two- or three-dimensional object would look if rotated away from its original upright orientation (Shepard & Metzler, 1971). In a classic chronometric mental rotation test two stimuli are presented simultaneously on a screen. In most cases, the left stimulus is presented in an upright position and participants have to decide as fast and accurately as possible if the rotated right stimulus is the same object, that means non-mirrored version or if it is not the same, i.e., a mirror-reversed version, of the left stimulus. Thereby angular disparities are systematically varied and reaction times and accuracy rate are assessed as dependent variables. In mental rotation two different types of mental transformations are contrasted: object-based and egocentric transformations (Zacks, Mires, Tversky, & Hazeltine, 2000). In an object-based transformation the observerâ&#x20AC;&#x;s position remains fixed, in an egocentric transformation tasks participants are asked to mentally change their own perspective. That means that they have to imagine rotating their own body in order to make a decision (Devlin & Wilson, 2010). That is, there are two different reference frames: In contrast to object-based transformations where objects must be judged in relation to each other, the reference frame in egocentric transformations is the own body. Each transformation type depends on the type of judgment that has to be made: In the case of an object-based transformation two images are typically presented next to each other. In this case participants are asked to perform a same-different judgment. An egocentric transformation is often evoked by the presentation of a single human stimulus, for example a human figure raising one arm (left or right) appearing at varying orientations. The participant has to decide which arm is outstretched, thus resulting in a left-right judgment (Steggemann, Engbert, & Weigelt, 2011). However, according to Amorim, Isableu, and Jarraya (2006) not only the type of the judgment, but also the stimulus type induces spatial transformations. Evidence from behavioral data confirms the view that object-based and egocentric transformations are implemented by two different processing systems. Regarding response time patterns, the typical increase of response times with increasing angular disparity is more evident in object-based transformation tasks than in egocentric ones (Jola & Mast, 2005). Moreover, Zacks, Mires, Tversky and Hazeltine (2002) did not observe any relationship between mental rotation time and angular disparity in a left-right mental rotation task. Embodiment of mental rotation

According to Wilson (2002) the embodied cognition approach implies that many cognitive processes that were originally thought to be purely cognitive seem to have a motor component. That is, the use of motor processes facilitates the solving of cognitive problems (Jeannerod, 2003). In the case of mental rotation there is evidence that motor processes play an important role. Based on several findings using human bodies as stimulus material it was shown that the mental transformation shares the same temporal and kinematic properties with actual body transformations (Parsons, 1987, 1994; Shepard & Metzler, 1971). In other words, mental rotation of body parts is performed through the observerâ&#x20AC;&#x;s simulation of rotational movements (Parsons, 1994). Shepard and Metzler (1971) interpreted the linear increase of reaction times as a hint that the process of mentally rotating an object is analogous to the manual rotation of an object. This assumption was supported by the work of Wexler, Kosslyn, and Berthoz (1998) and WohlschlĂ¤ger (2001). There is plentiful literature that egocentric transformations are embodied to a higher extent than object-based transformations (Gallese, 2003, 2005; Kessler & Rutherford, 2010; Kessler & Thomson, 2010; Lorey et al., 2009), which might be due to the fact that egocentric transformations depend more on the representation of the own body than object-based transformations. Embodiment of mental rotation in participants with higher body awareness Until now, there are only studies, which investigate an improved mental rotation performance with elite athletes. The definition of an elite athlete is very difficult (Swann, Moran, & Piggott, 2015); in the present study we define athletes as persons who train around 4 times a week. Jansen and Lehmann (2013) found that gymnasts show a better mental rotation performance than people who do not do any sports or play soccer. But not only elite athletes but also normal sport students show a better mental rotation performance than for examples educational students (Pietsch & Jansen, 2012). Furthermore, a study revealed that elite athletes who completed daily practice of a combat sport (fencing, judo, and wrestling) showed a higher mental rotation performance than elite runners (Moreau, Mansay-Dannay, Clerc, & Guerrien, 2011). It is suggested that the enhanced motor activity improves the mental rotation process. But there is also another possible explanation. This is the occupation with the body, which comes along with heightened body awareness. Through this the embodiment of cognitive processes is facilitated. Another subgroup who seems to have higher body awareness are patients with Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa is a serious somatic and psychic illness that affects 0.5-1.0 women during their lifetime (Ludson, Hirpi, Pope, & Kessler, 2007). Patients with Anorexia Nervosa have a BMI below 19. Because the patients feel fatter than they are, they refuse to eat. One of the major clinical symptoms is the occupation with the body, the dissatisfaction with the body and the distortions in body image perception (Garfinkel, Moldofsky, Garner, Stanger, & Coscins, 1978). Concerning the cognitive functions of patients with Anorexia Nervosa, the results are diverse. On the one side, it was shown that patients with Anorexia Nervosa scored higher in a visual search paradigm than healthy controls (Southgate, Tchanturia, & Treasure, 2008). On the other side it was shown that patients with Anorexia Nervosa showed impaired ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

executive functions (Weider, Indredavik, Lydersen, & Hestad, 2015). Up to now, there is no study, which investigates the mental rotation performance in patients with Anorexia Nervosa.

Goal of the present study It is the main goal of this study to investigate the performance in an object based and egocentric mental rotation task with participants with different body awareness. We assume that elite athletes as well as patients with Anorexia Nervosa, who both have a lower BMI than the normal control group, are more occupied with the body than control subjects. Due to the theoretical background the following hypotheses could be established: 1. Elite athletes show a better mental rotation performance than the control group either due to their motor activity or their positive body awareness. 2. Patients with Anorexia Nervosa show a worse mental rotation performance then the control group due to their negative body awareness. 3. Furthermore an interaction with the type of stimuli is expected. It is assumed that participants with a higher body awareness show a better mental rotation performance with egocentric compared to objectâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;based transformations.

Methods Participants. Fifty-six females between 16 and 30 years of age participated in the study. There were 19 elite athletes (mean age: 22.84, SD = 2.61), 20 patients with Anorexia Nervosa (AN; mean age: 22.50, SD= = 4.49) and 17 healthy control women (mean age: 22.88, SD = 2.50). In this study, Elite athletes were defined by at least 4 sport units per week and the patients with Anorexia Nervosa participated in a therapeutic programme for eating disorders. The elite athletes differed with 4.78 sport units per week significantly from the patients with AN and the control women, see Table 1. However, it should be noted that the sports behaviour of the patients with AN was limited and controlled by the therapists. The groups did not differ in their age, but in the IQ and the BMI as noted in Table 1. The IQ was measured with the Number Connection Test, ZVT (Zahlenverbindungstest, ZVT; Oswald & Roth, 1987) by measuring cognitive speed. This test consists of four sheets of paper. On each sheet, the numbers 1 to 90 are presented in a mixed order in a matrix of 9 rows and 10 columns. The participants had to use a pen to connect the numbers as fast as possible in ascending order. The number of correctly connected numbers was analyzed for each participant. ZVT-scores were converted into IQ values. The correlation between the ZVT and standard IQ tests is about r = .60 to .80 (Vernon, 1993). The ZVT is the equivalent to the Trail Making Test A (Reitan, 1956). The test administration, ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

including instructions and practice matrices, takes about 20 minutes. The BMI, which was calculated for each female, is defined as the body mass [kg] divided by the square of the body height [m]. Participants were recruited through advertisements in the local newspapers and at the campus. The patients with Anorexia nervosa were recruited by contacting a therapeutic centre for eating disorders. All participants gave informed consent for participation according to the declaration of Helsinki.

Table 1: Univariate F-tests for the factor “group” (Mean RT and SD) concerning age, IQ, BMI and sport units. Group Elite athletes M

Patients with AN

Control group

ηp2

4.49

22.88

2.50

0.05

.950

.00

106.76

14.00

69.73

.001

.24

Age

22.84

2.61

22.50

122.74

12.64

110.15

BMI

20.98

1.74

18.08

2.09

22.69

3.28

8.22

< .001

.40

4.79

0.37

1.40

1.69

0.53

0.72

25.28

< .001

.49

Sport units

11.28

Apparatus and Stimuli Mental rotation test (see also Jansen & Kaltner, 2014) For the mental rotation task, the experiment was run on a laptop with a 17” monitor located approximately 60 cm in front of the participant. The test was adapted from the work of Steggemann et al. (2011). There were three different experimental stimuli, 1) frontal view of two female people with either the left or the right arm extended (body figure object based: BFO), 2) front and back view of one female person with either the left or right arm extended (body figure egocentric: BFE), and 3) the letters R and F, see Figure 1. 1)

Figure 1: Examples of the three different stimuli, 1) body figures object based (BFO), 2) letters, and 3) body figures egocentric (BFE)

In the letter and BFO condition two drawings of the same kind of stimuli were presented simultaneously with an angular disparity of 0°, 45°, 90°, 135° or 180°. The right stimulus was rotated compared to the left stimulus, the so called “comparison figure”. Half of the trials were pairs of identical objects and half were mirror-reversed images. The letters were black and the human figures were wearing black clothes. Contrary to the letter and BFO condition in the BFE condition only one figure was presented in the rotation angles mentioned above. This figure raised either the left or right arm. All stimuli were rotated in the picture plan. Procedure The individual test sessions lasted about 60 minutes in total. They took place in a laboratory at the University of Regensburg or at the therapeutic centre for eating disorders (TCE) in Munich. Instructions of the mental rotation tests were standardized. In the BFO and letter conditions participants had to decide as quickly and as accurately as possible if the stimuli were either the same that means not mirror-reversed, or different, which means mirror-reversed to the comparison stimulus (shown on the left side). Participants had to press the left mouse button (left-click) when the two stimuli were “same” and the right mouse button (right-click) when the two stimuli were “different”. When the stimuli from the BFE condition were presented, participants had to decide if the figure raised the right or the left arm. Participants had to press the left mouse button (left-click) when the figure raised the left arm and the right mouse button (rightclick) when the right arm was raised. Each trial began with a fixation cross for 1 second. After that, the pair of stimuli appeared and stayed on the screen until participants answered. Feedback was given for 500ms after each trial: In the case of a correct response a “+” appeared in the centre of the screen and in the case of an incorrect response a “-” appeared. The next trial began 1500ms thereafter. Each type of stimulus was presented in a separated block which was preceded by eight practice trials. There were 80 trials in each of the three blocks (without practice trials). After every ten trials within each block a pause of 15 seconds was given before the next ten trials were administered. The next block started after a break of around one minute. The presentation of the three blocks was randomized. Each participant performed 3 blocks of 80 experimental trials, resulting in 240 trials: 3 stimulus types (BFE vs. BFO vs. objects) * 2 trial types (same vs. different) * 5 angular disparities (0°, 45°, 90°, 135° or 180°) * 4 repetitions of each combination. In each block the order of the presentation of the stimuli was randomized. Statistical analysis Two repeated measure analyses of variance were conducted with “stimulus type” (BFO, letters, BFE), “group” (elite athletes, control group, © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

patients with Anorexia Nervosa) and “angular disparity” (0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°) as factors and “reaction time” (RT) and “accuracy rate” as dependent measurements. A correlation as well as a regression analysis was conducted between the performance in the mental rotation task and the IQ and BMI. However, this was done only for the reaction/response times because a group effect was found for this dependent variable only (see below).

Results

Mental rotation: reaction time (RT) The analysis of variance showed a main effect for the factors “stimulus type”, F(2,106) = 16.41, p < .001, ηp2= .24, “angular disparity”, F(4,212) = 316,329, p < .001, ηp2= .856, and “group”, F(2,53) = 5.88, p < .01, ηp2= .182. Furthermore there were significant interactions between the factors “group” and “angular disparity”, F(8, 212) = 3.85, p < .001, ηp2= .127, as well as an interaction between “stimulus type” and “angular disparity”, F(8, 424) = 6.29, p < .001, ηp2 = .106. The interaction between “group” and “angular disparity” is displayed in Figure 2. It shows that the three groups did not differ at an angular disparity of 0°, but with all other angular disparities. Multiple t-tests with a Bonferroni corrected significance level were performed. They showed that at an angular disparity of 45° both the patients with AN (M=836.88ms, SD= 125.65), t(35)=2.681, p=.011, and the elite athletes (M=813.36ms, SD=210.03), t(34)=-2.404, p=.022, differed from the control group (M=970.54ms, SD=175.93), whereas elite athletes and patients with AN did not differ significantly, t(37)=-.416, p=.680. For an angular disparity of 90°, the reaction times of elite athletes (M=897.36ms, SD=226.22) and the patients with AN (M=919.11ms, SD=140.60) differed from the ones of the control group (M=1132.56ms; SD=278.01), t(34)=-2.798, p=.008, and t(35)=-3.015, p=.005. Concerning the angular disparity of 135°, compared to the control group (M=1071.43ms; SD= 168.59), there was a significant difference between both the patients with AN (M=1288.44ms; SD=271.34), t(35)=-2.296, p=.005, and the elite athletes (M=1053.01ms; SD=294.25), t(34)=-2.486, p=.018, whereas patients with AN and elite athletes did not differ, t(37)=-.241, p=.811. At an angular disparity of 180° there was only a significant difference between elite athletes (M=1372.99ms; SD= 329.45) and the control group (M=1767.84ms, SD= 436.35), t(34)=-3.084, p=.004. There was no difference between the performance of the elite athletes and the patients with AN (M=1563.42ms; SD=223.95), t(37)=.437, p=.935.

Figure 2: Mean reaction times and standard deviations (error bars) dependent on group and angular disparity.

The “angular disparity*stimulus type”-interaction was due to the fact that there was a significant difference between the reaction time of the following and previous angular disparity in both object-based conditions (BFO, letters; all p < .001), whereas in the egocentric transformation the only significant difference emerged between the angular disparity of 135° and 180°, t(55) = -9.060, p < .001. Because this result is not in the main focus of the study it will not be investigated further. Mental rotation: Accuracy The analysis of variance showed a main effect for the factor “angular disparity”, F(4,212) = 29.53, p < .001, ηp2 = .358, and a significant interaction between the factors “angular disparity” and “stimulus type”, F(8,424) = 2.92, p = .003, ηp2 = .052. There were no other significant main effects or interactions. The interaction between “angular disparity” and “stimulus type” was due to the fact that the decrease of accuracy between 0° and 180° was significantly stronger in the letter-condition (MDiff=13.39%, SD= 18.59) compared to the BFO-condition (MDiff=5.15%, SD= 13.07), t(55)=.740, p=.463, and the BFE-condition (MDiff=6.91%, SD= 12.81), t(55)=.740, p=.463, whereas between the human figure conditions there was no significant difference regarding this specific response pattern, t(55)=.740, p=.463. Because this interaction was not in our main focus, it will not be analyzed further. Further analysis showed that the overall mean reaction time was not correlated with the overall accuracy rate (r=-.109, p = .424), but with BMI (r=.266, p<.05) and IQ (r=-.331, p<.01). A stepwise regression analysis showed that IQ and BMI explained 17.7% of the variance in the mean reaction time (R = .421), F(2, 53)=5.71, p= .006), see Table 2.

Table 2: Final stepwise multiple regression model for the mental rotation performance in the mean reaction time based on the following predictors: group, BMI and IQ. Predictor

Regression

Ă&#x;

.135

.902

< .05

coefficient Group IQ

-5.191

.327

2.623

< .05

BMI

19.205

.260

2.089

< .05

Discussion Mental rotation performance in elite athletes and patients with Anorexia Nervosa The results of this study show that young adults with high body awareness show a better mental rotation performance than a group of healthy controls. Whereas the accuracy did not vary between the different groups, the reaction time was faster for the elite athletes as well as for the patients with Anorexia Nervosa than for the controls. This result was independent of the kind of stimuli and that means also independent of the kind of transformation. This result does not confirm our third hypothesis. It depended on the angular disparity in that for a specific angular disparity, either the athletes or the patients or both differed from the control group. Due to these results and regarding the hypotheses we can assume that higher body awareness results in an improvement of visual spatial ability. It did not seem to play a role if this body awareness is positive like the one of the elite athletes or negative like the one of the patients with Anorexia Nervosa. Another explanation might be that not body awareness but ambition is the key factor. Because it is well known that both elite athletes and patients with Anorexia Nervosa show a higher ambition than healthy control women, this factor should be controlled in other studies. Our results further suggest that the IQ plays an important role, which could be expected because mental rotation is one part of intelligence, namely visual spatial intelligence. What is interesting is that a lower BMI was related to a better mental rotation performance, which is in line with a study of Jansen, Schmelter, Kasten and Heil (2011). This is also in accordance with another study where lower visual-spatial scores in overweight children were found (Li, Dai, Jackson, & Zhang, 2008). Children with overweight showed an impaired mental rotation performance compared to normal weight children.

One reason for the relation between body weight and cognitive performance might be that young adults with a lower BMI have a higher sensitivity for physical activity and that this higher physical activity leads to a better motor performance. This better motor performance then relates to a higher cognitive performance (see for example Pietsch & Jansen, 2012). In other words a decreased motor ability relates to an impaired visual spatial intelligence (Jansen et al., 2011). But the relation between body weight and motor ability is only one possible mediator. Another one might be that the weight relates to body esteem and that this body esteem influences cognitive processes. A third explanation might be the socio-economic status. Because it is well known that in the development of overweight the socio-economic status plays an important role (compare Jansen et al., 2011) this variable might have mediated this results. We could not exclude this assumption because socio-economic status was not investigated, but even if it was controlled as in our former study (Jansen et al., 2011), the relation between body weight and visual-spatial intelligence was visible. In further studies concerning the investigation of mental rotation performance in young adults with higher body awareness other variables have to be controlled: motor ability, socio-economic status, body- as well as self-esteem. With the control of these variables a comprehensive picture of the integration of body, social and cognitive processes could be ventured.

The role of body awareness in the educational context The study has emphasized the role of body awareness on a specific kind of intelligence, namely mental rotation performance. What is the importance for the educational setting? Mental rotation is one key component of intelligence, which is important for different domains: Mental rotations plays an important role in problem solving (Geary, Saults, Liu, & Hoard, 2000), and science (Peters, Chisholm, & Laeng, 1995). The ability to mentally rotate objects is also an ability needed in creative jobs, engineering, and in medical professions (Hegarty & Waller, 2005). Furthermore, in one study of Dror, Kosslyn, and Waag (1993) it was shown that pilots are better at processing mental rotation tasks than nonpilots. Mental rotation is also a relevant factor in mathematical learning (Hegarty & Kozhevnikov, 1999). Linn and Petersen (1986) showed that mental rotation is related to math ability in college students. Reukala (2001) showed that the performances in a visual-spatial memory and a mental rotation task are related to mathematical test score. All these studies show the importance of mental rotation ability for the school setting as well as the professional world. The study here gives a hint that also body processes and even such simple processes as the body weight relate to something which is relevant for the school context. It seems reasonable to assume that the body weight is not only relevant for emotional factors like self-esteem, but also for cognitive ones. Although this study is surely limited by several points, it gives a hint that cognitive processes could not be isolated from other human body and soul. Mind, soul and body are integrated parts of each individual. To investigate one part in isolation is sometimes necessary for conducting controlled experiments. ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

But this study shows that the conclusions that can be drawn are limited. In practice every human being has to be seen individually, but in his or her wholeness. This is a high demand for every school- and educational setting, but is necessary for every system which wants to educate young people for a human world. Conclusion To conclude, this study gives support to the assumption that body awareness plays a role in cognitive processes. Further studies are needed to investigate this relation in more detail and make it useful for school context. Regarding future research directions it would be interesting to find out if this relation contributes to other cognitive tasks as well as emotional parameters.

Acknowledgment We are very thankful to Yvonne Steggemann who gave the stimuli to us and to Roman Wittig, Johanna Hofmeister, Maria Staudigl and Barbara Drechsler who helped during data acquisition and to Stefanie Richter who helped in writing the paper.

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Lehmann, J., Quaiser-Pohl, C., & Jansen, P. (2014). Correlation of motor skill, mental rotation and working memory in 3- to 6 years old children. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 4, 1-14. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2014.888995 Mc Kee, K., & Hackney, M. (2013). The effects of adapted tango on spatial cognition and disease severity in parkinson`s disease. Journal of Motor Behavior, 45, 519-529. doi: http:// 10.1080/00222895.2013.834288 Neuburger, S., Jansen, P., Heil, M. & Quaiser-Pohl, C. (2011). Gender differences in preadolescents„ mental rotation performance: do they depend on grade and stimuli? Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 1238-1242. doi: http:// 10.1016/j.paid.2011.02.017 Overby, L.Y. (1990). The use of imagery by dance teachers- Development and implementation of two research instruments. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 61, 24-27. Peper, E., & Lin, I.-M. (2010). Increase or decrease depression: How body postures influence your energy level. Biofeedback, 40, 125-130. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5298/1081-5937-40.3.01 Wiedenbauer, G. & Jansen-Osmann, P. (2007). Mental Rotation Ability of Children with Spina Bifida: What Influence Does Manual Rotation Training Have? Developmental Neuropsychology, 32, 809-824. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/87565640701539626 Van Garderen, M. (2006). Spatial visualization, visual imagery, and mathematical problem solving of students with varying abilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39, 496–506. doi: http://10.1177/00222194060390060201 Voyer D., Voyer S., & Bryden, M. P. (1995). Magnitude of sex differences in spatial abilities: a meta-analysis and consideration of critical variables. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 25–270. doi: http://10.1037//0033-2909.117.2.250 Wiedenbauer, G., & Jansen-Osmann, P. (2008). Manual training of mental rotation in children. Learning and Instruction, 18, 30-41. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2006.09.009

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Special Issue, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 14-19, October 2015

The Digital World of Education in Mauritius: Adapting the Mauritian Education System with the Pace of Technology Leena Subrun and Veerunjaysingh Subrun Port Louis, Mauritius

Abstract. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the school curriculum. There has been a growing concern about how to make the Mauritian school equipped with computers so that the future school leavers are well trained to fit the highly sophisticated digital world. To cope and compete with the international educational world, the Mauritian Government has invested massively in the Education system. The quest for adapting the Mauritian education system to the ICT world was studied by analyzing the papers published by the Ministry of Education and Human Resource of Mauritius (MOEHR). The focus was therefore on the needs of introducing ICT in the Mauritian education curriculum throughout the school life of a student. The paper aims to assist educationists to better understand the needs of technology in imparting a quality education. The study revealed that a certain level of technology and ICT do exists in the Mauritian education system. This is due to the caring attitude of each and every government to enhance the teaching and learning process in the school. But there are many factors which cause great dissatisfaction as the implementation and the publication of New Educational Reforms have been the major concerned. Some recommendations have also been put forward on how to imbed technology and ICT in the Mauritian education system. The educational reforms, the devotion, commitment, and contribution to impart ICT will motivate the government to continue to invest in the education system. Keywords: Education, ICT and Technology.

Education Education can be considered as the key to a successful future of any country. The report „Meeting Basic Learning Needs- A vision for the 1990s‟ on the world conference on education for all, held at Jomtien in 1990, stated that “education refers to the provision of learning opportunities in a purposeful and organized manner through various means including, but not limited to school and other © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

educational institutions”. To glitter in the middle of the Indian Ocean and to be tagged as the star and key of the Indian Ocean, it is essential for Mauritius to improve its teaching and learning process through a digitalised Mauritius has been striving hard to digitalize the education system by embedding system so that the human resources are well equipped to help to increase the economic growth of the country. However, the standard of education depends upon the government as most of the policies are introduced and reframed by them. Wellorganized governments tend to involve the different stake holders in providing a better education for all. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore the avenues in providing a better digitalised education to the students who have embarked unknowingly in the journey of education. Education has been the priority of the successive governments in Mauritius. Syed Zubair Haider et al (2015) came forward with the view that education plays a crucial role in the development of the country‟s younger generation to lead a successful life in this world of dynamic and global competition. Aikaman and Unterhalter (2005) stated that to educate a nation stays the most important strategy for the progress of the society all the way through the developing world. This has been in line with the Mauritian government to educate the nation.

Role of ICT in Learning Mauritius is a small island which is constantly evolving in the digital world. ICT is making dynamic changes in our society. It has an effect on our daily life. Today the digital age has altered the manner individuals communicate, socialize, try to find help, learn, and get access to information or even play. Gradually, technology is embedding in the Mauritian‟s culture. Tinio (2002), declares that the prospective of ICTs is ever-increasing access and improving bearing and quality of education in the developing countries. Thus, it has become the responsibility of the government to provide the young learners with relevant knowledge that will prepare them for life after school. The increasing use of ICT in our schools is gradually building some major variations in the teaching and learning process. Mikre (2011) argued that learners using ICT facilities demonstrate superior knowledge gains than those individuals who do not make use of. In a study done by Fuchs and Woessmann (2004), an affirmative relationship was observed between learner attainment and the ease of use of computers both at the learners home and schools. There is no doubt that ICT enables self-paced learning. However, it is also true that a simple raise in ICT provision does not give the assurance in the enhancement of the educational performance. Moreover, some schools in Mauritius are still facing difficulty in implementing of ICT in classroom.

ICT in School curriculum Since last decade, Mauritius has been witnessing a boom in the computerization process and there has been a craze for the study of computer studies. The government of Mauritius had to bring changes in its education system in order to cope with the new trend. ABS (2011) reported that changes were brought in educational policies which placed more pressures and demands on teachers and principals. With the implementation of ICT in the Mauritian curriculum, there © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

has been a great impact on the educators and the heads of schools. The school curriculum has to witness a great change and to implement the change the government policies is being modified. The Education and human resources strategy plan 2008-2020 stated that the strategy plan is mutable and the Education and training sector has never been always dynamic. The potential to mutate the policies has provided the space for inculcating latest technology in the school curriculum.

Struggle for implementing technology During the 1980‟s the Government worked to achieve quality education through improved instructional materials and teacher training (Armoogum Parsuramen, 2001). The emphasis was more on technology, but it was not define of which type of technology it is referring to and how it can contribute to the upliftment of the education system to impart a quality education. Moreover in 1984 the white paper on Education pointed out that Mauritius main resource is its people and it is only on their abilities and skills that the nation‟s future is based. The education helps to build these qualities which are basic to the development of the country. The expenditure on education was about 4 percent of the GDP and 14 percent of the Total Government Recurrent budget till the year 1990 (Master Plan, 1997). This proves that since the early 1980‟s the government has been investing massively in the education system as Mauritius did not possess any natural resource and thus they have tried to build up an educated man power. Today Mauritius is shinning among the African countries because of its educated man power. The Master plan, 1997 stated that the curriculum has been broadened to include more technical-oriented subjects. But the need for PC tablet and computer were not felt at that time. It is in the year 2008 that the craze for the need of the introduction of ICT was felt by the government to meet the pace of the rapidly changing world.

Strive to digitalise the curriculum The Educational Report Education and Human Resources strategy Plan 20082020(2009) showed that the objective of the MOEHR was slightly modified in such a way to impart a better education service to the Mauritians by giving importance to Information and Communication Technology in the school curriculum. Among many objectives set by the Mauritian Government, one objective was to maintain an impartial right of entry to all learners to a quality education by making sure that each and every learners achieve an elevated levels of attainment in literacy, numeracy, Information and Communications Technology and such indispensable life Skills as good values, healthy lifestyles and so forth as the basis for lifelong learning and good citizen. The MOEHR came with the vision to embed technology in the education system by equipping the schools with IT facilities by the end of 2010. The aim was to expose the young learners to modern technology (EHRSP 2008-2020). Moreover they also plan to train the educators in ICT so that they can disseminate it to the learners.

The MOEHR aimed improving the ZEP school, by setting up of computer rooms with the help of sponsors through the Corporate Social Responsibility (Education Reform in Action 2008-2014). In 2010, the ministry of education introduced the National Assessment at the Form III level and the private colleges joined in the program in 2013. The aim was to measure the attainment levels of learners in subjects like mathematics, French, computer studies/ literacy, biology, chemistry and physics. (Education Reform in Action 2008-2014). Thus, the mission of the government was to embed the computer studies in the Mauritian school curriculum. The ministry also aspired to transform schools by integrating different activities in the national curriculum to create a sense of balance with academic studies, to unleash the ability of students and to provide them the chance to build up their hidden talents and their multiple intelligences. Clubs such as the science club, UNESCO club, integrity club, sports club, IT club, cinematography club, Arts and craft club, Drama club, Music club, etc have been introduced in the school curriculum through the activity periods in the school. The activity periods in the secondary school have been introduced since 2009 and the IT club also flashes as one of the activity to be carried out. This was another successful attempt of the government to inculcate the use of IT among the students. The students are thus groomed to master the technology at an early age. The Vision of the MOEHR is to exploit Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) with the idea to improve the operations and service delivery of the Education sector with the emphasis of improving quality of the pedagogical processes as well as to boost the efficiency and effectiveness of school management. In the quest to promote IT literacy, the ministry has embarked and invested on a number of ICT projects. The ICT infrastructure has been improved in the school. Educators have been trained in basic IT so that the IT literacy can be introduced in the school program. One hundred and twenty eight public pre-school have been equipped with the computer facilities (Education Reform in Action 2008-2014). In addition to this, laptops and projectors also have been provided to all primary school in view to improve the teaching and learning process. Since 2011, the ZEP schools have been equipped with WIFI facilities, with the help of the CSR program where the private sector/companies invest a percentage of their revenue in the upliftment of the society. The survey report on the practical implementation of CSR under the new legislation (2011) pointed out that all companies must compulsorily invest two percent of their profit. Thus, through the SANKORE Project in 2011 the Mauritian education curriculum has benefited a lot. The project had the objective to provide an Education for all through digital empowerment and the use of innovative technology. The schools were provided with 1615 interactive projectors and laptops to the Standard IV to standard VI students. This has marked a new horizon in implementing technology in the Mauritian education system (Education Reform in Action 2008-2014). Today all the primary schools possess an ICT laboratory with at least 10 computers and 2 printers and a Scanner. Training sessions of educators have been carried out to equip the educators to teach and make full use of ICT. In

addition to it the senior educators, rectors and ICT educators have been trained to use tablet PC. An attempt to introduce computer programming has been carried out in five state secondary schools on the pilot basis in 2013 in view to prepare the learner to master the digital world. About 26100 tablets PC have been distributed by the Mauritian Government to the students and educators. SMS E-Register system has been introduced in 85 state secondary school and 40 private schools. Moreover, today 19 State Secondary Schools have been equipped with smart interactive whiteboard and the school library is equipped with access to the internet facilities to the students (Education Reform in Action 2008-2014). The Mauritianâ&#x20AC;&#x;s education ministers of successive Governments have tried to carry our Educational planning through different educational reports; Master Plan 1991, White paper 1997, Action Plan 1998, Ending the Rat Race 2001, Education and Human Resources Strategy Plan 2008-2020,and Education Reforms in Action 2008-2014. It has been noted that educational reforms have been the priority of each and every Government. The international agencies are giving the education sector a major concern, innovative training programs have been initiated, social scientists are carrying out an intensive research work on the subject, and as a result a large innovative professional literature is rising. The Education and Human Resources Strategy Plan 2008-2020 have been able to implement the vision of the Government of embedding technology in the curriculum. The success of the attempt may be justified by the election of the same Government for successive two mandates, thus the minister had ample of time to implement the Strategy plan 2008-2020.

Recommendation The need for ICT in education should be reworked so that it can be refurbished at all level of the school curriculum. The students must compulsorily go for ICT till Form III and then they have to opt for or drop ICT in upper forms. The ICT must be made compulsory up to a certain level so that the learners may acquire sufficient knowledge to apply it in the day to day life and the work place. The different stakeholders of the education sector need to have a consensus in providing an equal and fair chance to each and every citizen of Mauritius by providing a fair access to the digitalized world as only some schools possess the equipments such as interactive whiteboard, laptops, WIFI connections, printers, computers, PC Tablet and interactive projectors. The PC Tablet programs should start from the Form I level and not at SC level as these students were potential voters for the upcoming elections. The PC Tablet program should be reviewed and necessary accessories such as WIFI connections, subject content platform and an interactive platform for students must be provided along with the PC Tablet so that the educators and as well as the students can make maximum use of it. The latest technology such as LCD projectors, printers and scanners must be made available in all classes so that the educators can deliver judiciously a proper education within the limited time frame. Finally, the educational report published by the successive Government must be reframed in such a way that the objective is achieved within the time frame and more precisely within the laps of the government mandate. ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Conclusion The Government has made a great step by infusing technology in school. However, the ministry must keep an eye on the schools and must make sure that the schools make full use of the accessories provided. Moreover, a committee must be set up to train and evaluate the educators on how effectively the digital technology is being applied in the teaching and learning process. Given that education is free for all and the Government adheres to the principle of providing free education to the learners, therefore all schools must be similarly well equipped so that a uniform type of education is dispensed in all the Mauritian schools. Since the last decade tremendous amount of money have been inserted in Mauritian education system in view of embedding technology in the school curriculum. Despite many changes in curriculum, many schools are not making full use of technology. The Mauritian education has succeeded in embedding a certain level of digital technology but there are much more to achieve as the digital technology is a dynamic system which keep on evolving with new features every day. Moreover, a standardized digital curriculum must be provided in all schools and they must keep abreast with the innovative changes. The school must properly disseminate the ICT and technology in view to provide a World Class Quality Education in the context of globalization. This will enable young Mauritians to achieve moral, intellectual and physical development to achieve high academic standards. Thus, finally we can conclude that the Mauritian government is in quest of imparting a world class digital education and this has been achieved up to a certain level and yet new avenues must be tapped.

References ABS (2011), Schools, Australia 2010. Canberra, Australian Bureau of Statistics Aikaman and Unterhalter (2005). Beyond access: Transforming policy and practice for gender equality in education. London: Oxford. Armoogum Parsuramen (2001) Achieving Education for All The experience of Mauritius Fuchs and Woessmann (2004). Computers and student learning: Bivariate and multivariate evidence on the availability and use of computers at home and at school. Master Plan 1997: Master Plan for Education for the Year 2000: The Mauritian experience World conference on education for all(1990): Meeting Basic Learning Needs- A vision for the 1990s. Mikre, F (2011). The roles of Information Communication Technologies in education Ministry of Education and Human Resource (2009): Education and Human Resources Strategy Plan 2008-2020 Ministry of Education and Human Resource (2014): Education reform in action 20082014: Survey report on the practical implementation of CSR under the new legislation (2011) Syed Zubair Haider and Azra (2015): Analysing the role of private colleges in developing the effective education system in pakistan Tinio, V.L. (2002). ICT in Education: UN development Programme. White paper(1984). White paper on education, Ministry of Education

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Special Issue, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 20-32, October 2015

Human Capacity Development of Igala Youths in Higher Institution in Igala land for Skill Acquisition and Empowerment Joy U ETUBI Kogi State College of Education Ankpa, Nigeria Abstract. Education is the building block of any nation and the greatest legacy for any individual. Igala is one of the ethnic groups in Nigeria that has not received much attention from the Federal government in regard to human capacity development as compared to other ethnic groups in Nigeria. The Federal Government has not given attention to the high poverty level of Igalas that has made the needed educational training of their youths very difficult. Consequently, hundreds of these youths drop out of school every year and thousands of them take to socially unacceptable acts in order to survive the hardship of schooling. The paper discussed the concept of capacity development, overview of capacity development in selected institutions in other countries, high poverty level of Igala people as compared to other ethnic group in Nigeria and capacity development in vocational technical education with regard to rubber technology in higher institution in Igala land. The paper suggested among others that the Federal government via the State Ministry of Education should encourage human capacity development in tertiary institutions in Igala land by providing funds and interventions toward human capacity development initiative especially in rubber technology. Keyword: Igala intervention, capacity development; higher institution; rubber technology.

Introduction Higher educational institutions in Nigeria are tasked with the responsibility of providing students with knowledge and advanced skills to enhance the economic growth of individuals and the nation which will invariably promote the standard of living amongst its people. The Federal government of Nigeria indicated in the National Policy on Education (2004) that higher education provides opportunity for students to be trained in different careers. In other words, for any institution to provide a measurable transformation in training students in different careers it must ensure quality and standard education, ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

adopt and maximize rapid technological advancement as is obtained in developed countries. Such higher institutions should also be geared towards producing highly skilled human resource that will help to stimulate optimal performance in government or industry. Higher institution in Igala land is faced with the challenge of equipping students with these advanced skills that can address the urgent need for change in vocational technical education with regards to rubber technology in order to reduce the high poverty level that is endemic in the land. Experience has shown that Igala youths are full of potentials that can be harnessed in this area. There is the need for movement from training painters, bricklayers, auto mechanics which has not made any recognizable impact on the life of the Igalas to producing students who can become builders of industries either in mini or large scale using locally available natural resources where they can become manufacturer of goods such as rubber and plastics to boost individual and national economy. This can only be achieved if attention is given to the issue of capacity development of students in higher institutions in Igala land. It is worthy of note that Igala land is a fertile ground for the cultivation of rubber (Heveabrasiliensis) which is the raw material for the making of rubber products. This is evident in some villages where there is rubber plantation such as Egabada-Idah, Igoti-agojeju,Oganeaji-Anyigba,Okura, Ofejiji and Dekina. The fact remains that for any higher institution to operate with an improved standard, the government where the institution is situated must arise to become a positive force of transformation. The Nigerian government has not keyed into the interest and encouragement in capacity development as emphasized in the commitment seaied in millennium declaration by the United nations in September 2000 which is the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The statement therein revealed the urgent need particularly for developing countries to effectively respond to the current global economic recession that affects two billion people (Igalas inclusive) living in poverty. It is without doubt that the Nigerian government has not yet made any tangible support in the area of capacity development initiative in higher institutions in Igala land. The worry of this paper therefore is the lack of governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention on human capacity development of youths in igala land for skill acquisition. This paper is organized under the following sub- heading; the concept of capacity development, an overview of capacity development in rubber technology in some selected institutions in other countries, the high poverty level of the Igala people, and capacity development in vocational technical education with regard to rubber technology in higher institution (university) in igala land.

Concept of capacity development The relevant definition of capacity development in this context is the one put forward by USAID in the Learning Network on Capacity Development (2015) and the United Nations development program (2009) ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

According to the UNDP (2009), capacity is the ability of individuals or institutions to make decisions and implement it in an effective and sustainable manner. LenCD (2015) maintained that in USAID terms, Human Capacity Development is approaches, strategies, or methodologies used to change, transform, or improve performance of an individual, organization, or society. According to UNDP (2009), Human capacity development is a process through which individuals, organizations, obtain strength to maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives over time. Food Agricultural Organization (2004) provided a modified definition for further elaboration in their revised draft Strategic Framework Document to be; The process by which individuals, groups, organizations, institutions and societies develop their abilities both individually and collectively to set and achieve objectives, perform functions, solve problems and to develop the means and conditions required to enable this process. The above definition by the Food and Agricultural Organization (2004) brought about the recognition of four levels of capacity development- (i) individual, (ii) organizations (iii) sector/networks and the (iv) broader enabling environment. To Working Party, the overall capacity is not just the sum of individual, institution and sector but also includes the process which enables people to acquire and extend their skills within a conducive environment. FAO reiterates further that, human capacity development takes place not just within individuals but between them and the institutions and that/ any initiative within this context must take a holistic view of the environment in which individualsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; operate. Second, capacity development process includes identifying needs, building knowledge and skills that can be implemented through practice and experience which leads to sustainable change of an individual. FAO also opined that capacity development is a two way process through which an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capacity developmental needs, and experience would determine the content of training offered by the institution. The Accra Agenda Action (2008) indicated in their report that the three not independent. In their words, capacity The Accra Agenda Action in their report illustrated the inter-connectedness of levels of capacity development which was borrowed from the justice system thus; a well functioning and capable justice system needs to have skillful and professional judges, prosecutors, attorneys and court secretaries. Using the above example, the report further illustrated the three levels thus: the need for good court procedures to be put in place and a body of law and redress mechanism is at the individual level of capacity development formal justice system well functioning police force is at the institutional level and a well functioning police force with a strong value system based on what is right and wrong as well as on citizenry responsibility is at the societal level. Rita (2013) stated that the requirement for capacity development includes: (i) Teaching and learning; New forms teaching and learning for learners with good curricula and relations with employing organizations (ii) Student experience in research and community service; this includes university linkages ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

and student participation in research. (iii) Quality assurance; policies, structures, procedures, should meet the internal and external quality standards.(iv) Human resource and facility; more and qualified staff both academic and supportive staff,faclilties and infrastructures such as classrooms, libraries, laboratories, ICTinfrastructure that is needed to support research.(v). Funding; Higher education institution initiative should include funding research, teaching and learning, planning and control.

An overview of Capacity development in some selected Institutions in other countries. This part of the work attempts to look at human capacity development in higher institutions in other countries. In specific terms, this overview will be limited to rubber and plastic technology in these institutions. A look at capacity development in higher institutions of learning in these countries will help enhance the understanding of what it should be in higher institutions in Nigeria and most especially in Igala land. The first Institution is Madras Institute of Technology Chennai, India Department of Rubber and Plastic Technology This Institution has the department of Rubber and Plastic Technology which offer two year degree programme in Rubber and Plastics Technology that certify graduates as bachelors in technology ((B.Tech), four year degree program in Master’s. in Rubber Technology (M.Tech) and Ph.D program in the field of Polymer Science and Technology. Title

Degree

Specialization

Semester

B.Tech (Full time)

Rubber and plastic technology

M.Tech (Full time)

Rubber technology

Research

M.S (By research) (F.T&P.T)

Polymer science And technology

The curriculum of the B. Tech program is shown below. Semester 1 Code No Course title Theory HS9111 Technical English – I MA9111 Mathematics – I PH9111 Engineering Physics © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

3 3 3

1 1 0

0 0 0

4 4 3

CY9111 GE9111 GE9112 Practical PH9112 CY9112 GE9113 GE9114

Engineering Chemistry Engineering Graphics Fundamentals of Computing

3 2 3

0 0 0

0 3 0

3 4 3

Physics Laboratory Chemistry Laboratory Engineering Practices Laboratory Computer Practices Laboratory

0 0 0 0 17

0 0 0 0 2

2 2 3 3 13

1 1 2 2 27

2 3 3 3 3 3 3

0 1 0 0 1 0 0

2 0 0 0 0 0 0

3 4 3 3 4 3 3

0 0 Total 20

0 0 2

4 3 9

2 2 27

Total Semester 2 Code No Course title Theory HS 9161 Technical English – II MA 9161 Mathematics – II PH 9164 Physics of Materials GE 9261 Environmental Science & Engineering GE 9151 Engineering Mechanics PR 9151 Basic Machining Processes RP 9152 Basics of Electrical Engineering Practical GE 9161 Unix Programming Lab RP 9153 Machining Process Lab.

Semester 3 Code No Theory MA 9211 AE 9201 EI 9211 RP 9201 AU 9201 AU 9202 Practical PR 9202 PR 9203

Theory

3 3 3 3 3 3

1 1 0 0 1 1

0 0 0 0 0 0

4 4 3 3 4 4

Computer Aided Parts & Assembly Drawing 0 Mechanical Sciences Laboratory 0 Total 18

0 0 4

3 3 6

2 2 26

Mathematics III Engineering Fluid Mechanics Electronics and Instrumentation Physical and Organic Chemistry Thermodynamics & Thermal Engineering Solid Mechanics

Semester 4 Code No Theory MA 9262 PR 9251 RP 9251

Theory

Numerical Methods Theory of Machines Basics of Polymers

3 3 3

1 1 0

P C

0 0 0

4 4 3

RP 9252 RP 9253 RP 9254 Practicals EI 9261 RP 9261

Semester 5 Code No Theory PR 9303 RP 9301 RP 9302 RP 9303 RP 9304 Practicals RP 9305 RP 9306 RP 9307 PR 9306

Rubber Materials Fundamentals of Chemical Engg. Operation Polymer Physics Electrical and Electronics Engineering Lab Polymer Science Lab

3 3 3

0 0 0

3 3 3

0 0 0 0 Total 18 2

3 3 6

2 2 24

Theory

Machine Design Plastics Materials Rubber Processing and Machinery Rubber Compounding Latex Technology Elective – 1

3 4 3 3 3 3

1 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0

4 4 3 3 3 3

Rubber Processing Lab Rubber Materials Lab Technical Seminar Computer Aided Design Lab

0 0 0 0 19

0 0 0 0 1

3 3 2 3 11

2 2 1 2 27

Total Semester 6 Code No Theory RP 9351 RP 9352 RP 9353 RP 9354

Practical GE 9371 RP 9355 RP 9356 RP 9357

Semester 7 Code No Theory RP 9401 RP 9402 RP 9403

Theory Testing of Rubber and Plastics Plastics Processing and Machinery Product Design & Engg. Application of Polymers Polymer Characterization Techniques Elective II Elective III Communication Skills and Soft Skills Lab Plastics Processing Lab Rubber Testing Lab Design & Drawing of Moulds and Dies Lab

4 3 4 3 3 3

0 0 0 0 0 0

4 3 4 3 3 3

0 0 0 0 0

2 3 3 3 11

1 2 2 2 27

0 0 0 0 Total 20

Theory

Polymer Composites Technology of Tyres and Tubes Polymer Recycling Elective IV Elective V

3 3 3 3 3

0 0 0 0 0

3 3 3 3 3

Practical RP 9404 RP 9405 RP 9406 RP 9407

Design Project Industrial Training * Plastics Testing Lab Comprehension and Seminar

0 0 0 Total 15

0 0 0 0

* Four weeks of training during 6th semester Vacation Semester 8 Code No THEORY 1. Practical 1. RP 9451

Theory

Elective â&#x20AC;&#x201C; VI

12 12

6 9

Project Work

Total 13

List of electives B. Tech rubber and plastics technology Code No AE 9306 AE 9354 IE 9311 GE 9021 GE 9022 GE 9023 RP 9021 RP 9022 RP 9023 RP 9024 RP 9026 PR 9402 RP 9029 RP 9030 RP 9031 RP 9032

Course title L Experimental Stress Analysis 3 Finite Element Method 3 Principles of Management 3 Professional Ethics in Engineering 3 Total Quality Management 3 Fundamentals of Nano Science 3 Adhesives and Surface Coatings 3 Multi phase polymer systems 3 Fibres and Engineering Materials in 3 Polymer Products Footwear Technology 3 Product Design and Cost Estimation 3 Engineering Management 3 Polymer Components in Automotive Applications 3 Rubber Machinery 3 Plastics Machinery 3 Entrepreneurship Development 3

T 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

C 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Ferris State University, USA The Rubber Engineering Technology program in Ferris State University equip engineering technology students with a diversified background that includes advanced coursework in the mixing and testing of rubber compounds for industry standards, the processing of rubber compounds into finished products, making of mould design, materials selection and properties. Their Class ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

4 3 4 11

2 2 2 2 23

activities focus on hands-on learning, using the same type of equipment that is currently used in industry The curriculum content includes Mixing and testing rubber compounds for industry standards and processing these compounds into finished products, internship for a minimum of 10 weeks each rubber product design, computeraided design Manufacturing processes, material formulation Mould construction, supervision and management Algebra and trigonometry, electrical and hydraulic controls, chemistry and physics. In this innovative program, students learn to mix and test rubber compounds for industry standards.

What is rubber? Rubber is a polymer with the property of elasticity and there are two categories of rubber; natural rubber obtained from the rubber trees such as Heveabrasiliensis; and synthetic rubber derived from petrochemicals. Natural rubber is made from runny, milky white liquid called latex that oozes from certain plants with a deep cut into the tree. Although there are about 200 plants in the world that produce latex, over 99 percent of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s natural rubber is made from the latex that comes from three species called heveabrasilliensis, widely known as rubber tree. Synthetic rubbers are made from chemical using petrochemicals. This paper concentrates on natural rubber.

Poverty level of the Igala people According to Sam (2014) the concept of poverty has received the attention of stakeholders in different disciplines especially during the last two decades. But because of its complexity and multi-dimensional in nature, it has been difficult to give a universally acceptable definition of poverty. To him economic seem to have dominated the literature on poverty in Nigeria. Poverty has been defined as the inability of an individual or a family to command sufficient resources to satisfy basic needs. He said this definition has been used for constructing poverty line values of income or consumption required to purchase the minimum standard of nutrition and other necessities of life. The World Bank organization (2011) said that the most commonly used way to measure poverty is based on income. A person is considered to be poor if his or her income level falls below some minimum level necessary to meet basic needs. What is necessary to satisfy basic needs varies across time and societies. Therefore poverty lines vary in time and place and each country uses lines which are appropriate to its level of development, societal norm and values The Igala people are an ethnic group in Kogi state which is located in the North Central part of Nigeria Igala land is situated East of the River Niger and Benue confluence in Lokoja, Kogi state of Nigeria with its headquarters in Idah (palace of the Atta of Igala). The area is approximately between the latitude 7030 and 7040 east which is about an area of 13, 665 square kilometres (Oguagha, 1981). It is 120 kilometres wide and 160 kilometres long. Igala is the major ethnic group in kogi state with a population of two million. They can also be found in Delta, Anambra and Edo state in Nigeria. The Igala are found east of the river and are bounded o the east by Enugu state, to the ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

south by Anambra state and the north by benue/Nassarawa state he Igala language is closely related to the Yoruba and Itsekiri languages (Wikipedia, free encyclopedia.en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/).The major challenge facing the Igala people is poverty. Despite the fact that the cost of living in Igala land is relatively low, very few of the people can boast of good standard of living. Most of the communities lack basic amenities and infrastructures that most average societies are 13 expected to have e.g. good schools, hospitals, roads, electricity, water supply etc. It will not be a surprise to mention here that kogi state has just one university which is located in Igala land and it still needs further development and upgrade for optimum performance to meet competitive standard. The area occupied by the Igala people is part of the most fertile lands in the region and it holds great potential for economic activities especially agriculture. The land is also endowed with various mineral resources that if properly harnessed can be of tremendous economic benefit. In terms of human resources, Igala land witnesses low rate of infant mortality and Average life expectancy (ALE) in the area is not less than 70 years, this gives it a reasonably large population. In addition to this, most families in Igala land are large ones due to polygamous marriage, the absence of epidemics in the area accounts for a healthy population of young people with potential. Furthermore, Igala land is not susceptible to natural disaster like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions etc. This is an indication that the land is very favourable for any form of economic activity. The absence of crisis such as intercommunal war and terrorist activity in the area makes the environment friendly for economic and human development. However all these notwithstanding, more than half of the lgala people are living in poverty despite the natural endowments upon the land such as rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) which is found in large quantity in the following villages; Okura, Ofejiji, igoti, Dekina, EgabadaIdah. To substantiate this claim Abubakar (1990) in Edimeh (2013) stated that the output of rubber in its market from Igala land in 1905 was 14.5% of the total value of Nigeria rubber export. Up to 1910 Igala accounted for 70% of the valuable export in rubber from northern Nigeria. Today, in Igala land rubber is used mainly for roofing houses for lack of knowledge of it’s importance. The rhetoric question that could come to one’s mind is why has Igala land remained at the bottom of the ladder of development with the presence of such natural resource that can be utilized for the making of rubber products for the consumption of not only the people of Igala land but the state and the country at large. Even though the causes of their high poverty level can be traced to many other factors, it is crucial to note that this natural resource which if put into use could have alleviated some level of poverty and yet is left untapped is another contributory factor The people are impoverished, her youths largely unemployed and engage in menial jobs with crude, obsoletes tools (carpentry, mechanics, block moulders etc). Capacity development in vocational technical education with Regard to rubber technology in higher institutions in Igala land Technical vocational education is to improve student’s technological ability and skill and consequent career development. Afeti (2014) opines that the primary © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

objective of technical and vocational education and training programmes is the acquisition of relevant knowledge, practical skills and attitude for gainful employment in a given trade or occupational area. Okorocha and Duru (2014) further maintained that graduates from technical and vocational education are also found in design, construction and operation of industriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; including oil, agriculture, forestry, petro-chemicals, mineral and water resources, electrical power generation and distribution, textile, iron and steel, automatic and plastics and distribution, textile, iron and steel, automatic and plastics. Okorie (2001) stated that some aim of technical education includes; Providing skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will prepare individuals for employment in occupation for nation development, Helping young people to develop occupational competencies for industrial work, Making individuals to uphold the dignity of labour and right attitudes to real work situations, Inculcating innovative techniques and necessary skills for employment in the formal sectors of economy. Several researches has indicated that one tool for capacity development is training and it can be the best for targeting the individual level of human capacity development. But another work by the Capacity for Disaster Reduction Initiative (2014) shows that it is not enough that training results in participatory learning but it must be relevant to the need and goal of targeted organization. It is pertinent to note that training in rubber production in higher institution in Igala land can be delivered through different methods: 1. Face to face classroom learning- there should be rubber training for skills acquisition by experts 2. Field trip- students should visit manufacturing companies 3. Internship-this should be done for work experience for acquisition of professional skills 4. Seminar and workshop- suppliers and consultants should be invited for seminar and workshop in rubber manufacturing. Experience has shown that majority of Igala youths that possess technical ability for practical work graduate from higher institutions with just theoretical knowledge due to lack of guidance and availability of important areas in technical courses such as rubber technology. Human capacity development in technical vocational education with regard to rubber technology is therefore a necessity for the only university in Igala land for the following reasons: (i) Train skilled workers in the rubber technology. (ii) Enhancing individual development through poverty alleviation (iii) Enhancement of industrial development and economic growth. (iv) Utilization of the abundant natural resources and (vi) Training competent workforce for the solution of manufacturerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s problem of scarcity of staff in the nation.

One essential reason for the advocacy in human capacity development in rubber technology by this paper is due to its numerous applications in the production of materials such as: Rubber hose, wires and cable, automobile tires, fuel pump, vehicle parts, gloves, shoes, balls, belts, rubber bands, adhesives, toys etc. Rubber Technologist and job prospects New horizons have opened up for those specializing in rubber technology.. Some of the career possibilities are as follows: • Graduates can work as engineers in a vast number of industries which produce rubber goods. These include the automobile industry, plastics, toys, insulation materials, waterproofing wares, medical tubing etc. • Graduates can work in electrical and electronic industries that deal with rubber application. • Graduates can work in a rubber factory which produces rubber and supplies it to the electronic industry. • Graduates that are interested in academics can pursue higher studies in rubber technology and then engage in research and as demand for new standards of automobile tyres rises, research in this field is becoming quite lucrative. Rubber technologists can become one of the following: Test technicians; the duty is to analyze systems and perform a variety of production tests on equipment used in production. They work primarily in engineering and quality control arenas Production Engineers: The primary duties of a production engineer comprise the operation and maintenance of product quality and quantity, maintenance of the environment for health and safety. Materials Technologist: The duty is to oversee to activities in the warehouse such as planning and managing the flow of goods into and from organizations. Quality Control Specialist: Quality control specialist or Quality technicians ensure that all manufacturing works are completed For effective training in rubber technology The development of policy by the federal government of Nigeria and the assistance from the international body such can enhance the effectiveness of implementation of this programme. The following arrears of intervention can enhance proper implementation of the training.

Intervention 1 Staffing: Institutional set-up should consist of professionals with advanced skills in different aspects of rubber technology. 2. Curriculum: A curriculum should be designed on specialization module in rubber technology including field based exercise/learning. © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

3 Facilities: Good infrastructural facilities, learning environment and tools such as relevant textbooks and training manual should be provided. 4 Rubber plantations: There should be cultivation of rubber in Igala land, giving attention to plantation close to the university to enhance practical work.

Conclusion The paper has discussed capacity development in vocational education with focus on rubber technology. Emphasis was made on higher institution particularly the university as a place to train and develop competent manpower in area of rubber technology for employment to alleviate poverty among the Igala people in Kogi State. Also, the paper made some highlights on the need to encourage the use of natural resources that are locally available in the production of rubber materials to avoid waste and economic loss.

Recommendations 1. In view of the skilled labour shortage in this area and with the numerous applications of rubber, the training of needed manpower in rubber engineering technology should be given priority by the federal government of Nigeria. 2. Government and university stakeholders should ensure the inclusion of technical vocational education in higher institution programme where it is not available for comprehensive training system to produce knowledgeable and skill manpower in the area of rubber production. 3. Kogi State University in Igala Land should be empowered by Nigeria government and the international body to provide funds and other infrastructures to enable it to run technical/ vocational education. 4. University students should be given opportunity for international field trip exercise to universities in developed countries where rubber are being manufactured in order to acquire proficiency skills to make them more competent in the area of rubber production. 5. Students should be given opportunity for various internship, fellowship programme and field trip (locally and internationally).

References Accra Agenda Action (2008). Report on capacity development initiative. Accra Ghana. Afeti G (2014). The paradigm shift in technical and vocational skills development. Association for the Development of Education in Africa. http://www.adeanet.org/portalv2/en/blogs/skilling-africa-the-paradigmshift-to- technical-and-vocational-skills-development Capacity for Disaster Reduction Initiative CADRI (2014). Capacity Development of the Vulnerable. http:www.cadri-net/en/area Chris Woodford. (2015). Rubber.- A simple introduction. Retrieved on 20/07/2015 http://www.explainthatstuff.com/rubber.html

Edime, F.O (2013). British imperialism and the reign of Attah Ameh Oboni: The Inevitable clash. Paper Presented at the Igala Studies Foundation [IGSA] Annual Conference. History Department, Kogi State College of Education, Ankpa. Food Agriculture Organization (2004). Working party on Human Capacity Development. Advisory Committee on Fisheries Research, Rome. http://www.fao.org/3/a-y5568e.pdf Learning Network on Capacity Development (2015). USAID definition of Capacity Development. http://www.lencd.org/learning/capacity-development Oguagha, P.A (1981). The history of Igala Kingdom. Available at https://profcollinson.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/the-history-of-igalakindom/ Okorie J.U (2010). Vocational teachers education, Bauchi: League of Researchers in Nigeria. Okorocha, C. N and Duru,F. C.[2014]. Technical and vocational education and training for industrial development and economic growth. International Journal of Innovative Resource Education, Technology Education Department, AlvanIkoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. Rita, V.D. (2013). Capacity development in health education institution in developing countries.? Maastricht school of management-the Maastricht, the Netherlands. http://www.msm.nl/resources/uploads/2014/02/msm-wp2013-30.pdf Rubber Engineering Technology Degree at Ferris State University. Available at http://www.ferris.edu/rubber-engineering-degree.htm Sam, I. O. (2014). Achieving sustainable poverty reduction and rural development in nigeria through development strategies. American Journal of Rural Development 2(1), pp 13-19. Department of Agricultural Technology, Science and education publishing. Rufus Giwa polytechnic, Ondo state. United Nations Development Programme (2009). Capacity Development: A UNDP Primer. Wikipedia the Encylopedia 2015. The Igala people. Avialable atenwikipedia.org/wiki/igala- people World Bank Organization (2011). Measuring Poverty on Country level. http/go.worldbank.org/77LE40.

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research

Special Issue, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 33-40, October 2015

e-Learning: Challenges and Solutions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A Case Study Ashis K. Pani, M. Srimannarayana and R.K. Premarajan XLRI, Jamshedpur Jamshedpur, India Abstract. The concept Virtual Interactive Learning (VIL) or e-Learning has evolved significantly over the past few years. VIL represent an attempt to break away from traditional lecture-style delivery of education by reaching out and offering education to anyone, anywhere through online platforms open to all who have Internet access. This research paper focuses on the initiatives taken by a reputed management school in India towards conceptualizing and delivering of management education to working professionals through the VIL mode. Through an empirical study, the authors have tried to bring out the various challenges and concerns that the institute faced while running the VIL Programs over the years. This research is also intended to highlight the measures taken by the institute to combat the challenges, to ensure seamless delivery of the programs. Keywords: e-Learning; web-based learning; online learning; virtual interactive learning.

Introduction With advent of technology, e-learning has rapidly grown from being just another term or concept into a hard reality. It is now available in organizations in various forms â&#x20AC;&#x201C; be it online learning, computer-mediated learning, blended learning, web-based learning, or mobile learning and they all have one thing in common, i.e. ability to use a device connected to a network. E-Learning is a concept that helps learners learn from the learning materials from anywhere, at any time and any liked pace in which they want to learn. It is a form of social learning, focused at answering the needs of learners. It is a tool supported by latest technology to make the learning process more flexible, innovative, learnercentered (Demiray 2010, Ozuorcun & Tabak (2012). It is a special method of collaborative learning process, conducted online through Internet technology where the teacher and the student are not required to be present at the same place at the same time (Yucel 2006). It is becoming popular during various spheres of life e.g. in higher education, industry and government organizations. Internet based instructional program uses the technology of World Wide Web to create a proper learning environment. As the new economy requires more and

more people to learn new knowledge and skills in a timely and effective manner, the advancement of computer and networking technologies are providing a diverse means to support learning in a more personalized, flexible, portable, and on-demand manner (Dongsong et al., 2004). The technology enables the education providers to update, share and distribute the learning resources. According to â&#x20AC;&#x17E;State of the Industryâ&#x20AC;&#x; survey conducted by American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), the percentage of companies using technology-delivered training increased from 8% in 1999 to 27% in 2004, and about 75% of the technology-delivered courses in 2004 were online (Sugrue B, Rivera RJ 2005). Newman and Scurry (2001) identified that over 1,100 institutions of higher education in the United States offer online courses. Symonds (2003) found that the Army also uses online instruction as a retention tool, with over 45,000 soldiers in 50 odd countries pursuing advanced degrees online.

Dimension of e-Learning The extent of e-learning technology use in course delivery varies widely. The variations in the configuration of e-Learning offerings can be described through a number of attributes, as mentioned in below table (Wagner, N., Hassanein, K., & Head, M. (2008). Table: 1 Various Dimensions and attributes of e-Learning.

The Docebo Report (2014) revealed that the worldwide market for self-paced elearning reached $35.6 billion in 2011. It also estimated that the revenues should reach some $51.5 billion by 2016. With the aggregate growth rate of 7.6 per cent, several world regions seem to have significantly better growth rates. The report further pointed out that the highest growth rate is in Asia at 17.3 per cent, followed by Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America at 16.9 per cent, 15.2 per cent, and 14.6 per cent, respectively. As far as e-Learning in India is concerned, As reported by India Today on 8th September, 2014, research indicates that the industry is set to reach $1.29 billion

by 2018, while some highly optimistic sources claim that the market is much bigger, sizing up at $40-60 billion by 2018. Regardless, it‟s generally agreed that with current annual growth rates of 17-20 per cent, the industry is poised for significant growth. Already, India is a major source of e-Learning content and development for the world market, thanks to our low-cost and highly educated workforce in higher education. The present paper aimed at tracing the evolution of e-Learning initiatives by a reputed management institute in India for the benefit of working personnel and to identify issues and challenges in this endeavor.

History of the Institute XLRI, Xavier School of Management is a leading B-school based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India. XLRI being, India's first management school was set up by Jesuit priest, Fr. Quinn Enright, S.J in 1949 where management and trade unions courses were offered, initially. Gradually, a two year full time program was set up in industrial welfare in 1953. XLRI is acknowledged as the oldest B-school in the world along with Harvard, Wharton and ESCP by Economic Times, India 2015. Fr. Enright visualized XLRI to be a partner in the liberation and development journey of the independent India with a vision of "renewing the face of the earth". Over the years XLRI has developed its own identity. The hallmark of this identity is, not to walk on the beaten path but to strike new routes and not to benchmark but to be benchmarked. This enterprising and pioneering spirit can be witnessed throughout the history of XLRI. The programs include a full-time two-year post graduate program in Business Management, Human Resources Management and Global Management, General Management (full time) program for fifteen months (PGDM-GM), doctoral fellow programs (FPM), executive fellow programs (EFPM) and many executive education programs. XLRI features consistently among the top business schools of the country. In 2014 XLRI was ranked No. 1 among Private business schools in India by Outlook India, India Today, The Week and Business Today.

Virtual Interactive Learning Initiatives XLRI Jamshedpur has been the first-ever Institute in India to have successfully propelled in the direction of Virtual Interactive Learning, delivery in 2001-02. “Working professionals / executives who cannot come to XLRI Jamshedpur to learn business and management studies, why can‟t we go to them, in their cities to educate them?” was the question, that had been answered in the year 2002, with the inauguration of the first Postgraduate Certificate in Business Management (PGCBM) batch with 250 students through Hughes Communication India Ltd, as the technical partner. Gradually XLRI moved on to offer couple of long duration programs like the Postgraduate Certificate Program in Human Resource Management (2003), Postgraduate Certificate Program in Logistics and Supply Chain Management (2007), Postgraduate Certificate in Sales and Marketing Management (2007) and Postgraduate Certificate Program in Retail Management (2007).

1000 800 600 400 200 0

Students for Long Duration Programs Students for Short Duration Programs Figure: 1 Enrolled Students over the years.

The one Year Virtual Interactive Learning (VIL) programs are challenging courses that demand focus and dedication because of the curriculum design and teaching platform. Professionals with at least two years of work experience post their full-time graduation (10+2+3 format or equivalent diploma) degrees are eligible for admission into these programs. Selection is through personal interviews where academic and professional background along with Statement of Purpose (SOP) is taken into consideration. The program has been designed to expose participants to relevant trends and practices in business and management. In conjunction with its technical partners, XLRI has created a virtual learning environment, one that allows students from various cities across India to interact with the faculty, to learn from them, and to gain their quest for higher education through these long duration programs. The curriculum and schedules are designed to accommodate working professionals, with classes being held over the weekends or after regular work hours. The pedagogy is a mix of case studies, assessments, assignments and group projects, ensuring that students gain an all-round insight into the subject at hand. Students are provided with the learning materials, either in the form of books or e-resources prior to the commencement of the courses. Communication with the students is through a dedicated Academic Information Systems (AIS) where relevant details along with examination dates, grades, resources etc. are updated which intend to ease the life of the students. Classes are held across cities in India, with students retaining the flexibility of attending classes wherever they are without hampering their personal and professional life. One of the technical partner, that is, Hughes Global Education India Limited (HGEIL) has created 88 classrooms/study centers and the other, Unified Collaboration Services (UCS) has created 43 classrooms/study centers in different locations across India. Campus Component and Graduation Ceremony are the integral parts of the Programs. Every student has to attend campus classes for five days and imbibe the culture of the Institute. Certificates are awarded to the students during the Graduation Ceremony, which is held at the XLRI Campus.

800 600 400 200 0

Figure: 2 Number of Graduates.

Over the years, the careers of around 5000 working professionals have been shaped and enhanced by the dint of quality learning and knowledge, gained through this medium. Thirteen years of market dominance, speak volumes about the acceptability of the programs and reach. The institute keeps on reviewing and redesigning the course content based on the industry inputs and participants‟ feedback. The technical partners played a pivotal role for the successful delivery and offering of such programs. The technical collaboration over the years grew stronger in numbers and its services. From HGEIL (2002), to Reliance Communications (2005), UCS (2014), Tech Mahindra (2015), Talentedge (2015), NIIT Imperia (2015) and ICICI Direct Center for Financial Learning (2015), all have outgrown the expectations of the participants. The technical partners have helped to create an environment that resembles the regular classrooms, with students able to interact among themselves and with the teaching professors, asking and answering questions. The constant up gradation of technologies, have provided the opportunity to cater to the ever changing need of the students. HGEIL, formerly known as Hughes Communication India Ltd. (HCIL) is an advanced platform that combines the critical aspects of verbal and visual communication – two-way video and audio synchronized with rich content, collaboration, discussion groups, application sharing and live interaction. The communications platform reaches large numbers of people in real-time. Live sessions become highly intuitive and effective, as video and rich interactive content are delivered directly to the desktop of the student. Very small aperture terminal (VSAT) is a communications technology that enables reliable two-way transmission of data via satellite. The platform is a scalable application that combines quality video with two-way audio and data transfer to enable live delivery. It offers live collaboration tools such as application sharing, whiteboard annotations, discussion groups, chats and guided browsing. On the other hand, UCS offers the unique high definition video conference based technology. The experience, delivered over a 50” HD LED TV provides a simulation of real time classrooms, unprecedented in the Indian executive education space.

Apart from imparting education through the online/virtual mode, the upgraded technologies have helped the Institute to deal with the strategic challenge of participants‟ retention and engagement. The initiatives to engage the participants towards the program have been enhanced through hosting couple of contests, celebrating the years of „our VIL Journey virtually‟, interactive sessions by faculty, alumni and industry experts and through social medium (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, You tube). Time, being the major constraint in today‟s era, has compelled the corporates and individuals to go for accelerated programs which demands less time. To serve this need, we have designed and offered couple of short duration, eManagement Development Programs (e-MDPs). Initially, a short duration program was designed and delivered for the employees of Nigeria. To continue with the legacy of such programs in India, the Institute has designed and delivered short duration programs in specialized areas and domains such as Human Resource management, Human Resource Development, Corporate Finance, and Strategic Management. These short duration programs are run in collaboration with several technical partners which offer a comprehensive direct-to-device or direct-to-desktop education suite with real-time interactive and participative virtual classroom sessions. It‟s beneficial for the participants as it offers them flexibility and eases out learning, from anywhere. Today's dynamic business environment is competitive, far-reaching, transcending boundaries whilst seamlessly connecting economies across the globe. Pursuit of excellence in academics, personal values and social concern has been the goals of XLRI and the students truly share this vision. As a consequence of the academic rigor at XLRI, it strives to shape thoughtful leaders who will create value for their organizations and their communities without compromising on their professional and personal lives.

Issues and Actions It is true that the institute could run the programs successfully for more than a decade. However there are certain issues and challenges faced by the Institute in conducting these programs. They are as follows:  Institute Interface Residential programs have the advantage to portray and radiate the culture and heritage of the Institute whereas the virtual /online programs do not get the scope to portray the culture and heritage for their students to inculcate. To address this issue, the institute has designed the campus component, where the students get a chance to visit the campus to get the experience and opportunity to imbibe in the culture and heritage of the Institute.  Faculty Interface Unlike residential programs, professors prefer the generic mode for case discussions over live and corporate specific cases through the virtual mode. The concern area for the professors is the usage of advanced technology by the students, in the form of smart phones etc. as recorders where the lectures/ discussions of the professors are recorded /copied, may lead to copyright issues. To address this issue the Institute stopped using unpublished cases of the professors concern, and started using licensed cases like HBR to avoid the legal

implications and serve the students with the most sought after cases, for their better understanding.  Designing the learning content and pedagogy The traditional form of education has the scope to study student‟s behavior (like reaction, understanding and acceptability etc.) and design/re-design the pedagogy and contents whereas for online/virtual education the scope is limited which intends to reduce the quality of online pedagogy and curriculum. This issue is addressed through regular participants‟ feedback. Using this input learning content and pedagogy are reviewed and redesigned.  Interpersonal connect with the students The culture at XLRI promotes a friendly atmosphere among the professors and students which is difficult to replicate through the online / virtual mode. To address this issue, professors and academic and non-academic personnel contact details are made available to the participants. They can interact with them through e-mails or phones or forums. The campus visit adds to the idea of building the rapport among students and professors through one to one interactions.  Assignments and Tests Assignments/projects through online mode may tempt the students to indulge in unfair practices whereas the traditional form of education encourages the students to work and report the progress made and review periodically. To address this issue the bars to evaluate the assignments have been raised by the usage of software named “Turnitin” to scan assignments which compels the students to work for the assignments. Third parties are deployed, along with the installation of proper surveillance cameras to keep a strict check on the way students are appearing for their assessment tests. Of course, the student‟s manual clearly defines unfair practices and appropriate punishments.  Dependence on the technology With online/virtual mode of education, students are bound to depend on technology which may affect the quality of program delivery. Connectivity, system failures can be termed as some of the challenges related to technology. As a remedial measure, the institute migrated from the technology of VSAT for online education to VC and now to web based technologies which reduces the challenges to a great extent, if not totally eradicates it. Students facing technical issues during the sessions are also given the opportunity to avail the archives (recorded sessions) for their perusal.  Time Management Online education gives the scope to procrastinate, hence the students can learn only through proper time management whereas the traditional form of learning provides very little scope for the students to procrastinate as there is a possibility of constant follow-up. Scheduling of multiple assessments and assignments at regular intervals infused the sense of responsibility within the students to work on deadlines.  Isolation Virtual mode of education brings in isolation among students as they are remotely located, taking up sessions and misses the classroom environment and experience of peer discussions etc. Incorporating compulsion for students to attend the online sessions by introducing a mandatory component for

attendance [Technology in the form of pop ups at regular intervals along with tapping the Log in and Log out time of the participants is used to maintain the attendance logs] and group assignments and projects are introduced to help the students interact with their peers, and share their experience.  Study materials Soft copies of the study materials are uploaded in AIS for the benefit of the participants. In addition to soft copies of the study materials, the participants are given printed text books. Sending the printed material to all participants across India on time is a challenge. A long term contract with a courier company helped in resolving this issue.  Natural calamities Natural calamities such as like heavy rains affect the quality of online delivery of the programs. Upgraded the technology from VSAT to Internet based technologies reduced the concerns to some extent. Conclusion Though the Institute took specific actions based on the issues cropped up time to time, it is always possible that students will have some issues given the large number of students spread across India. Therefore, it is always desirable to have a dedicated team of academic and technical personnel with the traits of good communication, both written and oral, a passion to serve the executive students with compassion coupled with sincerity and honesty. The timely redressal of participants‟ grievances would help in the long-term success of the program. References Demiray, U. (2010). e-LEARNING practices, Cases on challenges facing elearning and national development: Institutional Studies and Practices, VOLUME: I, Anadolu University, Eskisehir-Turkey. Demiray, U. (2010). e-LEARNING practices, Cases on challenges facing e-learning and national development: Institutional Studies and Practices, VOLUME: II, Anadolu University, Eskisehir-Turkey. Dongsong, Z., Zhao, J., Lina, Z., & Nunamaker, J. F. (2004). CAN E-LEARNING REPLACE CLASSROOM LEARNING?. Communications of the ACM, 47(5), 75-79. http://beforeitsnews.com/ : E-learning: moving toward a self-servicing society by GSS Infosoft Limited-UK, Parinama Group Company (Monday, June 15, 201). Newman F, and Scurry J. (2001). Online technology pushes pedagogy to the forefront. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 47, B7–B10. Ozuorcun, N. C., & Tabak, F. (2012). Is M-learning versus E-learning or are they supporting each other? Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 46, 299 – 305. Sugrue B, Rivera RJ. (2005). State of the industry: ASTD‟s annual review of trends in workplace learning and performance. Alexandria, VA: ASTD. Symonds WC. (2003). eArmyU. Business Week, 106. Wagner, N., Hassanein, K., & Head, M. (2008). Who is responsible for E-Learning Success in Higher Education? A Stakeholders' Analysis. Educational Technology & Society, 11 (3), 26-36 Yucel, A. S. (2006). E-learning approach in teacher training. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE, 7(4), 123-131. Retrieved from www://hugheseducation.com Retrieved from www://xlri.ac.in Retrieved from http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/future-for-e-learning/1/379729.htm

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Special Issue, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 41-48, October 2015

Provision of Quality Education Mauritius in Quest of Quality Education Veerunjaysingh Subrun and Leena Subrun Port Louis, Mauritius

Abstract. There has been a growing concern about the provision of quality education in the Mauritian school during the past few decades. Provision of Quality is a very important factor for the continuing growth of educational system in Mauritius. This study has been carried out by studying the different papers published by different Governments elected in Mauritius through the Ministry of Education and Human Resource (MOEHR) by the ministers in quest of providing quality education to the nation. The findings of this study are intended to help Colleges leaders and the Government to better understand the needs of Quality and hence maximize their effectiveness and efficiency in achieving and imparting quality education. The exploration of Quality education was studied in line with papers published by the Ministry of Education and Human Resource of Mauritius (MOEHR). The focus was therefore on the needs of the provision of quality Education and the effort made by the Government towards imparting a free quality education to the nation. The study revealed that a certain level of Quality of education exists in the Mauritian Education System. This is due to the caring environment and the provision of facilities to enhance the teaching and learning process in the school. On the other hand, there are other important factors which cause great dissatisfaction. The implementation and the publication of New Educational Reforms have been the major concerned. Some recommendations have been put forward on how to improve quality and to achieve quality. Recognition for the value of the published Educational Reforms and the devotion, commitment, and contribution to the achievement of Quality Education will positively motivate Education Ministers to stay enthusiastic in working on the same path of the other educational ministers in quest of providing a quality education the nation. Keywords: Education, Quality and Leadership.

Education Education has been the priority of the successive governments in Mauritius. Almost all the governments are investing massively in educating their citizens. Education plays an essential role in the development of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s younger ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

generation to lead a successful life in this world of dynamic and global competition (syed Zubair Haider et al, 2015). Education can be defined as a lifelong process during which an individual acquires knowledge, skills and attitudes (values and the moral dimension of education). Years after years the Mauritian government has invested massively in the education sector so as to produce a highly educated nation. The Mauritian’s Government is creating the enabling conditions for a high-quality learning environment that will transform the existence of the students by ensuring their well-being and livelihood while facilitating their transition to responsible adult citizenship (Education reform in action). The Special Education Needs and Inclusive Education in Mauritius of MOEHR 2006 stated that the Government is committed to leaving no child of our Republic behind and this is shown through the National Policy and strategy Paper on Special Education Needs. The Government of Mauritius had a vision to convert Mauritius into an education hub and today in the year 2015, the vision has been realized with the implantation of many universities Mauritius. In the venture to change the world into a better place to live, new ideas have been challenged by the Governments. Thus the ever fast changing world of education has witnessed major changes. The MOEHR in 2014 in the report Education reform in action stated that education helps in coping with adversity and contributes to the common good; our students need to be imbued with a sense of values, ethics and nationhood, thus empowering them to adopt the right attitude at the right moment and at the right place. This proves that the Government is concerned with the future of education system and they started to ask many pertinent questions about the future of the education sector. The process of devising new plans in education to meet the requirement of the job market has turned up to a new tenure called educational planning. Today, educational leaders and responsible governments have dedicated themselves to the new thought of moving towards educational planning. The Mauritian’s education ministers of successive Governments have tried to carry our Educational planning through different educational report; Master Plan 1991, White paper 1997, Action Plan 1998, Ending the Rat Race 2001, Strategy planning 2008-2020, Education Reforms in Action 2008-2014. The strategy plan is mutable and the Education and training sector has never been always dynamic (Education and human resources strategy plan 2008-2020). It has been noted that educational reforms have been the priority of each and every Government. The international organizations have marked the education system as a top priority and thus new training programs have been created. Social scientists have been searching on this burning issue and as a result a large variety of literature is now emerging. The concept of leadership in the field of education has a great importance in the upliftment of the education system though a quality education which will prepare the citizen of tomorrow to face new challenges. The different leadership styles of leaders in the education system has a made their presence feel in the world of education in the provision of quality education. Many universities in Mauritius and as well as in the different part of the world are now providing many courses in the field of © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

educational leadership so as to better equip the educationist to face the new challenges in the education sector. The first Prime Minister of Mauritius, Sir Seewoosagar Ramgoolam came with a vision of free education in 1976; his aim was to educate his people so that they can progress by facing the new technological world. He was a farsighted person and an excellent education planner as his strategic planning has brought a lot of prospect to the present nation. Today Mauritius has witness a considerable investment of resources, made by the government, on both human and material. This has in turn resulted in an impressive progress achieved in terms of free education up to the age of 16. Free textbooks, free transport and even free meals are being provided in some areas so as to attract children to school. A fairly wide range of higher education courses at the University of Mauritius and Mauritius Institute of Education are also being provided to the Mauritians. The Government aimed to provide an inclusive educational system, starting in the early years of development, and aimed at responding to the educational needs of each and every child through a child-centered pedagogical approach and a flexible and adjusted curriculum that will help each child to develop his or her potential (Special education needs and inclusive education in Mauritius). The government has provided sufficient financial support to the education sector by using tight budgets. The Private and Confessional schools are also subsidized to a greater part by providing grants, soft-term loans facilities, equipment, training of educators and by making provision of buildings for the holding of pre-primary classes (Master Plan 1997). The curriculum in the Mauritian education system has been broadened to include more technicaloriented subject so that the people can fit in the highly technological worlds of today (Master Plan 1997). The government is providing educators and rectors courses to uplift the education sector. The Pay Research Bureau of Mauritius has been playing a key role in the upliftment of the education sector. In his last publication the requirement to be a rector in year 2013 has amended by stating that a diploma in the field of educational leadership and management is a must and educators need to have a Post Graduate Certificate in education to be appointed as educators. In order to be successful Karani, Sharon R. (2011) stated that Quality Management practices ought to be the integral part of any organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategic management.

Quality The term quality is a universally used, but, it has a wide range of interpretations. Even if the term quality is used across the world, it does not have a common definition since it cannot be describe as it is a dynamic term. The definition of expression quality depends upon the situation and upon the person who is using it. Quality is usually conceived in a qualitative sense where it refers to the relative quality of an entity. Generally it is used to judge the degree of satisfaction of similar products and services. Thus, quality is highly subjective term and ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

sometimes it is confusing since all individuals are different from each other and it also depends upon the different circumstances. The concept of quality goes parallel with excellence and it satisfies the standards and norms. Horine, Hailey and Rubach (1993), pointed that the most crucial element of quality is “fitness for purpose”. While, Willis and Taylor (1999), stated that customer satisfaction is the most crucial element of quality. Fitness of purpose and customer satisfaction are both considered as the backbone of quality, they walk hand in hand most of the time. Since time immemorial the need for quality has always been present. Human beings have always searched for things of beauty and quality and like to be well treated. At the beginning of this new search for quality, quality education was only being looked at from the management’s point of view. The quality of educated people to be produced for the job market was usually determined by the universities and the education sector without taking the needs of the job market into account. The job market did not have lot of choice in some field and they had employed people with alternative qualifications. But today new courses are being embedded in the school curriculum so that educated citizens can fit into the job market. New subjects like travel and tourism, twenty first century science and recently entrepreneurship have penetrated the secondary school curriculum of Mauritius. The educational world has witnessed many drastic changes, throughout the last few decades. The social changes have a great impact on the whole system of education. Pisa 2000 pointed out that management strategies are easily amenable to policy makers to produce the best performance. Thus, more responsibilities have been added on heads of schools to strive for the provision of a quality education. The school leaders have to develop and enhance their leadership and management skills such as delegation, negotiation, team-building and counselling skills so as to provide quality education to the population at large. The strategy plan 2008-2020 of MOEHR aims to build a system that ensures a supply of quality personnel that work collegially with a strong management and quality assurance system to improve and support learning achievement and overall development of all learners

Quality Education The Government of Mauritius is investing massively in the education system as there has been a growing concern for imparting quality education in Mauritius. The Education Reform in Action 2008-2014 of the MOEHR is to provide a quality education for all and a Human Resource Development base to transform Mauritius into an intelligent nation state in the vanguard of global progress and innovation. Since 2012 the MOEHR is allocating a monthly per-capita grant of Rs200 to children of age 4+ and 3+ and about 22360 children attending private Pre-Primary school are benefiting from the per capita grant yearly (Education reform in action 2008-2014). © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

The objective behind the quest for imparting quality education is that education occupies a fundamental position in the development of decision makers, professionals and the workforce which the country needs for its new economic trajectory. Colossal investment and tremendous efforts are being made by the Government to produce educated people so that they can in return produce quality products and services to the nation. In view of retaining the children in pre-school not only free education and free transport are provided but also a daily meal, school materials and psychological support services are offered freely by the Mauritian Government (Reform in action 2008-2014). Quality education will bring a better life (Master Plan, 1991), better prospects and higher status for everyone. Public and private schools are being called upon to perform better and to continuously improve and turn into learning organizations. The Government of Mauritius has invested massively on the extensive program of extension, renovation and construction of secondary schools so as to increase the choice of State Secondary Schools given to students in all regions of the Republic (Ending the rat race, 2001). The schools are becoming under the scrutiny as they are shifting from the comfortable frame of convention (Aspin et al, 1994) to take up the challenge of instituting stimulating methods for total quality learning and teaching: a changing approach. The report Strategic planning 2008-2020 showed the commitment of carrying out fundamental improvements in the education system with the idea to provide a “World Class Quality Education” to facilitate the employability of the Mauritians in the new sectors of the emerging economy. The plan of the Government is to impart quality education at all levels, right from pre-primary through to post-secondary education sub-sectors, and training sector (Education and Human Resources Strategy Plan 2008-2020). The different leadership styles are applied in the field of education so as to make schools perform better and to provide a quality education. Karani, Sharon R. (2011) concluded that total quality management is an enhancement to the traditional way of doing business and it is a proven technique to guarantee survival in world class competition. However, the concept of quality is achieved if the people are properly trained and if they applied the proper leadership styles in the day to day circumstances of the school life.

The quest of Quality Education in Mauritius Mauritius is trying to bring the necessary reforms in the education sector with the hope to bring superiority and quality education with the view of achieving a “World Class Quality Education.” At the International Symposium on Education in 1989 held in Mauritius, the need for excellence was raised among the main concepts of the conference. Thus the Master Plan for education was published in 1991 under the aegis of the Ministry of Education to impart a better education to the citizen of Mauritius. The report “Quality Initiatives 2006” was launched in January 2006 by the MOEHR and the Minister of Education declared the fundamental concepts of “quality education and excellence”, thus communicating the main agenda of the government towards the implementation of the goal of excellence.

The Pay Research Bureau report in 2008 recommended for the setting up of a New Quality Assurance Division and Inspection Division at the MOEHR for the educational sector to cater for Quality Education in the Mauritian educational Sector. The aims of these Divisions are to ensure quality audit of human resources, curriculum, infrastructure and equipment thus ensuring quality in education at large. The Mauritian Government aimed to provide an equitable access to quality education, by ensuring that all learners attain high levels of achievement in Literacy, Numeracy, Information, and Communications Technology and such essential Life Skills as sound human values, healthy lifestyle and so forth as the basis for lifelong learning and good citizenship (strategy plan 2008-2020, 2009). The ultimate vision is to transform Mauritius into a highly intelligent island, a hub of knowledge which will serve the Region. Furthermore, it will act as a Centre of Higher Learning and Excellence by constructing an innovative and knowledgeable Human Resource base so that Mauritius can adapt with the rapidly changing world for a sustainable national development. In the venture of achieving a World Class Quality Education, the Mauritian schools are transforming the main vision of the Government into action. The stakeholders must share the same view about quality and must work toward the same goal.

Reflection on the education system During the past few years, in order to increase the percentage of Higher School Certificate holders, the MOEHR under the aegis of the Government of Mauritius has cropped up with new criteria for the admission of students to Higher School Certificate. The minimum requirement for admission to Lower six was four credits but it has been amended to three credits at first attempt or two credits at second attempt at the Cambridge School Certificate to be admitted to Lower Six. Thus, this proves that the Mauritian Education system is moving towards mass education and not quality education. The barriers have been lowered so that many students have access to education at the Higher School Certificate level and finally they can be admitted to the universities. This strategy of the Government is contributing towards mass education but the cost of mass education is that the standards of the Mauritian education system are being lowered. This means that the Government has derailed from its mission and vision of imparting quality education as it is not in line with the mission and vision of the MOEHR. The Mauritian Government has always believed that the only key to success is to educate his people. Thus the unending investment on the Mauritian education system has made Mauritius to shine among the African countries and even among some European countries. Recently in 2014 the previous Government came forward with the idea to modernize the education system by introducing e-learning through PC tablet. The present Government is walking in the same pathway to provide each and every student of form five a tablet. This is a new era of modernisation in the Mauritian education system. ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Today the present Government is laying more emphasis in the planning and introducing the concept of nine years schooling in the Mauritian education system. The nine years schooling aims at eradicating the stress of CPE exam. The Government aims to retain the students in the system till they attain the basis education to fit the job market and thus the child will be better equipped to face the future world. The education system will then guide them toward either the vocational system or the main stream. But this report is still under the scrutiny and construction of the Ministry of Education and Human Resource. The Quality Assurance Division Team has been recommended by the PRB 2008 and it has been set up by the MOEHR to monitor and improve teaching in the State Secondary School.

Quality Circles (QC) (senior management Team) To achieve quality, the creation of a Quality circle is a must in the schools. The Quality Circles (QC) is a management method, adopted from the Japanese industry and is now being applied to the education sector (Freed et al, 2000). The Quality circles consist of a small group of persons who discuss problems associated with the institution, seek solutions and try to implement these solutions so as to eliminate problems. The QC functions similarly as the Senior Management Team. They are responsible to devise strategies to find solutions to problems. The QC must comprise of H.O.D, teachers and management (Rector), thus there will be the participation of the employee in the decision making process. Better solutions will be found while consulting the QC because people concerning the problem at the grass root level will participate in the decision making process.

Recommendation The term quality education needs to be well redefined by the MOEHR. The different stakeholders of the education sector need to have a consensus on the definition of the term quality since it can be interpreted in different ways. The different standards for the provision of quality education must be standardised by the MOEHR so that all the stake holders abide to the standardisation. The Quality Assurance Division of the MOEHR must check and take necessary actions so that the colleges abide to the standardisation in the provision of quality education. New educational leaders must be formed so that the educational system develops new avenues in the education system. Moreover the leaders of school must be formed by the government. Realisable reports must be published because the future government may not work in line with the present government. Thus the law must be amended in such a way that the report published must be to a certain percentage. Moreover the report must be SMART-Specific, Measurable, Achievable, and Realistic within a Time frame. The time frame must be within the mandate of the present Government.

Conclusion The Government must ensure that all schools adopt and work in line with the mission and vision statement of the MOEHR. They must try to provide a World Class Quality Education and Education For All, which is the vision and mission of the MOEHR. The term quality education must be well defined and standardized so that all schools can keep abreast with the innovative changes and use proper leadership skills to provide a World Class Quality Education in the context of globalization to enable young Mauritians to achieve moral, intellectual and physical development to achieve high academic standards. To achieve this goal, a sound atmosphere of leadership and management must prevail in the schools. Steenkamp (1998) stated that a good school culture enhances the quality of work-life for school teachers and other stakeholders as it provides a safe working environment, fair supervision of the rector, participation in decision making processes, opportunities for advancement, growth and cooperation. The educational report published by the successive Government must be reframed in such a way that the objective is achieved within the time frame.

References Aspin, D, Chapman, J & Wilkinson, (1994): Quality Schooling. A pragmatic approachto somecurrent problems. London: Cassell Evelyn Chiyevo Garwe, The effect of institutional leadership of higher education provision Freed, J.E., Klugman, M.R. and life, J.D. (2000), A culture for academic Excellence: Implementing the Quality principles in Higher education, Jossey Bass, san Francisco, CA. Horine, JE; Hailey, WA and Rubach, L(1993): Transforming schools quality. Quality Progress. Vol. 26, No.7. Karani, Sharon R. (2011): Effects of Total Quality Management implementation on business performance in service institutions: A case of Kenya Wildlife Services Master Plan 1997: Master Plan for Education for the Year 2000: The Mauritian experience Ministry of Education and Human Resource (2001): Ending the rat race in the primary education and breaking the admission bottleneck at secondary level Ministry of Education and Human Resource (2006): Special Education Needs and inclusive Education in Mauritius Ministry of Education and Human Resource (2009): Education and Human Resources Strategy Plan 2008-2020 Ministry of Education and Human Resource (2014): Education reform in action 20082014 Pisa (2000),School factors related to quality and equity Pay Research Bureau report 2008 Steenkamp RJ (1998): A quantun leap needed for quality protection. Pretoria: Van Schaik Syed Zubair Haider and Azra (2015): Analysing the role of private colleges in developing the effective education system in pakistan Willis, Th and Taylor, AJ 1999: Total Quality Management. Vol 10, No.7

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Special Issue, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 49-57, October 2015

Effects of a One-Hour Creative Dance Training on Mental Rotation Performance in Primary School Aged Children Petra Jansen and Stefanie Richter University of Regensburg Institute of Sport Science Universitystreet 31 93053 Regensburg, Germany

Abstract. The study presented here investigated the influence of onehour creative dance training on the spatial ability of mental rotation. Two groups of first and second graders solved a paper-pencil mental rotation test. Afterwards, one group received one lesson of creative dance training while the other group attended the regular physical education lesson. At the end of the short training period all children solved the mental rotation test again. The results show that the dancetraining group improved their mental rotation performance more than the physical education group. This study expands our further studies where we have shown that five weeks of creative dance training enhances mental rotation performance (Jansen, Kellner, & Rieder, 2013). Further studies have to be conducted which investigate the short-term effects of different kinds of physical activity on different cognitive functions and their relation to academic performance. Keywords: mental rotation; school-aged children; motor performance; creative dance; regular sports class.

Introduction Western society is changing. Children spent more time using media and sitting in front of a computer or TV screen. Those â&#x20AC;&#x153;western culturally conditionedâ&#x20AC;? positions lead to a decrease of energy (Peper, 2012). One might assume that due to the reduced time of movement, motor abilities get worse over time. Besides, the pressure gets higher to perform well in school to receive good jobs in later life. Thus, both motor and cognitive performance should be promoted to counteract frequent and long sedentary activities and foster academic achievement. The present study concentrates on the effect of a specific motor activity, i.e., creative dance training, on a specific cognitive ability, i.e., mental rotation. It expands our former study where we have shown that a creative

dance training over five weeks ameliorates mental rotation performance (Jansen, Kellner, & Rieder, 2013). Mental rotation is defined as “the ability to rotate quickly and accurately twoand three-dimensional figures in imagination” (Voyer et al., 1995, p. 25). It plays an important role in science and some work contexts, for example air traffic and pilots (Dror, Kosslyn, & Waag, 1993), but also in education, for instance mathematics (Hegarty & Kozhehvnikov, 1999). Furthermore, it was shown that the mental rotation performance in second graders correlates with the math‟s grade (Blüchel, Lehmann, Kellner, & Jansen, 2013). According to this it seems promising to look for methods to improve mental rotation performance. One of these methods is physical activity or motor performance: Existing studies investigating this relation differ in their methodology concerning the age of the participants (adults or children), methodology design (correlational, quasi-experimental, experimental designs) and the kind of motor training. Here, only the studies with children are presented. In two correlational studies it was shown that motor abilities and mental rotation performance do correlate even if intelligence was controlled (Jansen & Heil, 2010), but that this correlation diminished if working memory measurements were considered (Lehmann, Quaiser-Pohl, & Jansen, 2014). In studies with quasi-experimental designs, it was investigated whether children who show motor disabilities or a weak motor performance reveal an impaired mental rotation performance. This assumption was confirmed in studies with children with spina bifida (Wiedenbauer & Jansen-Osmann, 2007) and overweight children (Jansen, Schmelter, Kasten, & Heil, 2011). Children with spina bifida have an incomplete closure of the embryonic neural tube during the first month of embryonic development, which leads to a paralysis and loss of sensation below the spinal cord defect. The severity of the symptoms depends on the defect´s location. Therefore, children with spina bifida can only move with the help of crutches or a wheelchair. Being overweight, which is determined by the Body Mass Index according to reference data, leads to impaired motor performance (Graf et al., 2004). Given the association between motor performance and mental rotation, it is not surprising to find impairments in mental rotation performance in overweight children (Jansen et al. 2010). Thus, it seems reasonable to assume that children with overweight suffer from mental rotation impairment. Experimental designs with children are rare. The few existing studies are interference- as well as training studies. Frick, Daum, Walser and Mast (2009) showed that motor performance interferes with mental rotation performance for younger children of 5 and 8 years. In training studies, it has been shown, that the mental rotation performance could be improved by one single lesson of manual rotation training (Wiedenbauer & Jansen-Osmann, 2008). Two groups of tenyear old children received one-hour computer training. In the experimental group, manual rotation training was performed (rotation of objects on a computer screen with the help of a joystick). The control group executed nonspatial computer training, i.e., a knowledge test for children. The improvement © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

in the mental rotation performance from the pre- to the posttest was much higher for the manual rotation group than for the control group. This result was confirmed in training studies with children who learned to juggle over a period of three months (Jansen, Lange, & Heil, 2011) and with children who received a two weeks coordinative training designed for the school context (Blüchel et al., 2013). Up to now there is only one study, which investigates the effect of creative dance training on mental rotation performance. The results show that five weeks of creative dance training improve mental rotation. This result is in line with studies with adults who show the beneficial effect of dance on cognitive performance (Coubard, Duretz, Lefebvre, Lapalus, & Ferrufino, 2011; Kattenstroth, Kolankowska, Kalisch, & Dinse, 2010) or other kinds of visualspatial skills (Keinänen, Hetland, & Winner, 2000). The relevant factor underlying this positive effect is that in dance training, orientation in space and spatial awareness-two of the main cognitive abilities–are trained (Bläsing & Schack, 2012). Beside the positive effect of motor activity on mental rotation there are a lot of studies showing a benefit of a single intervention of motor activity, especially aerobic exercise, on executive functions (Best, 2010). Best has reviewed studies, which differentiated between a single bout of an aerobic and complex exercise intervention with cognitive engagement (ball games) on the one side and studies with aerobic exercise only. The effect was smaller with less complex forms of aerobic exercise. These results provide a hint that a complex activity like creative dance enhances complex cognitive functions like mental rotation after one single bout of exercise only. Until now this was not investigated for the mental rotation performance in school-aged children, which is the goal of this study and an extension of the previously mentioned study (Jansen, Kellner, & Rieder, 2013).

Material and Methods Participants Sixty-four first and second grade pupils (30 girls and 34 boys) participated in this study. The children were between 6 and 9 years old (mean age: 7.09 years, SD = 0.73) and were recruited from a primary school in Bavaria, Germany. Because the children were tested in their school context, two classes (35 children) received a creative dance lesson. Two other classes (29 children) were assigned to the control group (CG), and took part in the regular physical education at school. Parents were informed and gave their written consent. Data was collected anonymously. The experiment was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki. Measures Mental rotation performance was tested with the picture mental rotation test. The Picture Mental Rotations Test (PMRT, Neuburger, Jansen, Heil, & QuaiserPohl, 2011) is a paper pencil mental rotation test with animal pictures as stimuli. Each row has one target item on the left side and four comparison items on the © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

right side. Two of the four items on the right side were identical (non-mirrored) but picture plane rotated versions of the target item on the left side (45°, 90°, 135°, or 225° rotated compared to target item). The other two items were mirrored versions (see Figure 1). The children‟s task was to cross out the two correct items on the right side. There was a time limit of two minutes. There were two items provided as examples and two more items for practice before the test began. Rotation performance was defined as the number of correctly solved items in the PMRT.

Figure 1: Example item of the picture mental rotation test.

Intervention Creative dance training was taught in one single session of one hour. In the training, children got the possibility to express oneself by moving in accordance to the music instead of just reacting and repeating formerly learned moves. The session started with a short warm-up phase by trying to “wake up sleeping limbs”, i.e. shaking their limbs at their own choice. After this a short story was narrated about the wind blowing and becoming a hurricane. Several other elements followed. For example, children had to imagine wearing a crown on their head and balancing through the room, or they were taught some rotational movements. At the end of the lesson children were narrated a story of a bewitched garden where strange things happen. All children were prompted to move according to this story. The lesson ended with a short relaxing phase. The theme of the physical education lesson was “throwing and catching”. To make it comparable to the creative dance lesson regarding the “fun factor”, the children got different tasks where they had to hit small buckets with the ball, or hit different objects on a cabinet. At the end of the lesson a ball game with two teams was established. Procedure Children were tested with the PMRT in their classroom during regular school time. Training started immediately after fulfilling the PMRT. The experimental group received the dance training; the control group took part in the regular physical education lessons. The mental rotation performance of all children was tested again immediately after the training. Analysis An analysis of variance was conducted with the dependent variable “mental rotation difference” which was defined as the difference between the pre- and posttest in mental rotation performance (value of posttest – values of pretest). The independent variable was the factor “group” (experimental group, control group). Furthermore, to find out if groups initially differed in their mental rotation performance, a univariate analysis of variance was calculated with group as independent and pretest PMRT-scores as dependent variable. © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Results Effect of training on mental rotation performance There was a significant main effect of â&#x20AC;&#x153;groupâ&#x20AC;? [F(1,61)=5.14, p<.05, partial eta2 =.08] on the difference score in mental rotation, which was higher for the children in the experimental group (EG) compared to the children in the control group (CG; EG: M=3.00, SD=2.02; CG: M= 1.79, SD=1.87). The EG (M=3.17, SD=3.60) and the CG (M=5.10, SD=4.33) did not significantly differ in their mental rotation performance in the pre-test [F(1,62)=3.79, p=.056]. However, the difference favoring the control group failed to reach significance only barely. To find out if initial performance in the PMRT was associated with the degree of improvement after training, we calculated a correlation between the pre-testscore and the difference score, which did not reach significance (r=.117, n.s.). Figure 2 illustrates the mean changes from pre- to posttest in the experimental and control group.

Figure 1: Mean changes in PMRT-score from pre- to posttest and standard errors of the mean in the experimental and control group.

Because of the well-documented gender differences in the psychometrical mental rotation performance even in children (Neuburger et al., 2011), the analysis above was again conducted with gender and group as a independent variables. The results showed that gender did not influence the mental rotation difference [F(1,60) =2.51, n.s.].

Discussion The results of the present experiment showed that mental rotation performance could be improved by a single physical education lesson and a single creative dance-training lesson. The improvement was higher for the creative dance training compared to physical education lesson. Children of both groups received the same amount of attention so that the higher improvement of the EG ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

could not be explained by a higher amount of attention. In contrast to regular physical education lesson, the dance training required spatial orientation and rotation around the body axes. We suggest that this is the crucial difference between interventions, which led to the better performance of the dance group. This result is in line with two experimental studies of our own working group. In adults, Jansen and Pietsch (2010) showed that only one single 45-minutes lesson of physical education improved mental rotation performance compared to a control group who received a theoretical learning session. Jansen, Kellner and Rieder (2013) showed that a longer lasting creative dance training in second graders enhanced mental rotation performance. Hence, the results of the present study build a link between the results of those former studies. Gender usually plays a crucial role in mental rotation performance insofar as male advantages are often observed (Jansen, Schmelter, Quaiser-Pohl, & Heil, 2013). However, these advantages could not be shown in this study, which might be due to the fact that not the mental rotation performance per se but the improvement between pre- and post-test was investigated. This result gives a hint that boys did not profit more from the training than girls. The enhancing effect of dance on the visual-spatial task can also be inferred from other studies with older participants (e.g. Kattenstroth et al., 2010) or through the comparison of novice and experienced dancers (Overby, 1990). In the latter study it was shown that experienced dancers showed better spatial imagery ability. Furthermore, the literature is growing that dance, in this case Tango, might improve spatial cognition in patients with Parkinson`s Disease (McKee & Hackney, 2013). In addition, the results of the present study are important for the educational setting due to the positive relation between spatial ability and mathematical ability, especially mathematical word problem solving (e.g. Casey, Nuttal, Pezaris, & Benbow, 1995). The theoretical link is that children with good spatial skills are better at making visual schematic representations, which is positively related to the solution of mathematical word problems (e.g. Van Garderen, 2006). According to this, creative dance may also improve mathematical word problems solving. This assumption has to be investigated in further studies. Finally, the study has some limitations, which should be investigated in more detail in further studies. First, it has been shown that the relation between motor behavior and mental rotation performance might be mediated by working memory (Lehmann, Quaiser-Pohl, & Jansen, 2014), so the influence of creative dance has also to be investigated with reference to working memory. Second, we did not control for intelligence and general motor ability in this study, assuming that the semi-randomization of the four classes to the two conditions eliminates possible differences. Thus, the influence of these three aspects â&#x20AC;&#x201C; working memory, intelligence and general motor ability â&#x20AC;&#x201C; should be considered in future studies to provide a more accurate picture about the origins of mental rotation performance.

Conclusion To conclude, this study gives support to the assumption that only one lesson of creative dance training in primary school-aged children can enhance mental rotation performance, and that this kind of training is more effective than regular physical education lessons. Future studies are needed to disentangle the reasons why dance ameliorates spatial ability more than regular physical lesson – is it the rotation of one`s own body, the moving through space or the coupling of action and expression to music? Regarding future research directions, it would be interesting to find out if this effect transfers to cognitive, social, and emotional skills, such as a possible enhancement of self-esteem.

Acknowledgement The authors thank Kathrin Hommer and Franziska Pohl for the data acquisition and the children for their participation.

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International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Special Issue, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 58-68, October 2015

On the Way to Phronesis: Delving into Stories of School Based Experiences of Pre-Service Teachers Swaleha Beebeejaun-Roojee Doctoral student, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa Nathalie Congo-Poottaren Doctoral student, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

Abstract. There exists an on-going debate on the gap between the academic aspect of teacher education and the reality of school life. In response to this issue, many teacher training institutions propose on-job placement or ‗School Based Experience‘. In Mauritius, trainee teachers are posted in schools with a view to provide them with work-based learning opportunities and expose them to the world of schools. A narrative enquiry has been adopted to investigate ways in which preservice teachers have lived their school-based practicum in relation to the knowledge acquired during their training. Data was collected from stories narrated during focus group seminars and analysed using Haynes (2007)1 Key Steps. The study sheds light on ways in which trainee teachers faced the diversity and complexity of the school milieu as an experiential learning space. It also leads to the understanding of their concerns as they negotiate their way along the journey of reconciliation between teacher education and experiences of school life. Key findings relate to both the benefits and setbacks of work based learning. The authors recommend that there is a need to revisit the partnership which exist between the teacher education institution and schools. Keywords: School Based Experience, experiential learning, work based learning, phronesis. 1Haynes,

C. 2007, Experiential learning: Learning by doing: 5-step experiential learning cycle definitions. www.niu.edu/facdev/resources/guide/strategies/experiential_learning.pdf 1. Introduction The novice teacher sat in my office with shoulders drooped and a forlorn face. “Nothing worked…I do not want to go back in that school, maybe I need to change school……” were the first few words she muttered. © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

As teacher educators we often get to hear such stories when our students are out on field experience. The profession is plagued with a theory– practice gap, which seems to be at the center of this gloominess. It is indeed an uncomfortable ‗space‘ where the student-teachers get engaged in the complex environment of the school and their struggle to bridge the theory and practice. Therefore what becomes fundamental is that ‗workplace‘ need to provide them with experiences that are positive and authentic not only in terms of equipping them with appropriate pedagogical knowledge but also the practical knowledge to cope with everyday school life so that these novice teachers can shape their identities as effective teachers. Research has shown that to be effective, Professional Development Programmes must to be attentive and sensitive to the practice of work-place. Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin (1999), laid emphasis on the importance of situational and contextual learning and pointed out that learning about practice should be done in practice. Cochran-Smith & Lytle (1999, 2001) reiterated that such knowledge development, include the development of practice for practice (kinds of knowledge teachers need to know), knowledge in practice (knowledge in action), and knowledge of practice (emphasizes the relationship between knowledge and practice and the theoretical aspects of both). While Elmore (2004) emphasised on the need to focus on concrete classroom applications of ideas and expose teachers to actual practice rather than descriptions. There is a need to be attentive to real themes and issues in the day-to-day work of teachers (Berliner, 2001; Korthagen, 2001, Kaminski, 2003).).On job placement thus provide the space for first hand learning to occur. Novice teachers can observe, emulate, discover, and reorganize the ideas that they have formulated about teaching from the experiences gained. 1.2 Experiential learning and Phronosis Learning through experience is not a new concept. Well known educational psychologists such as John Dewey (1859-1952), Carl Rogers (19021987), and David Kolb (1939) have provided the seminal work on learning theories that focus on ―learning through experience or ―learning by doing.‖ International literature provides us different names for such practical knowledge gained such as craft knowledge, work-place knowledge, wisdom of practice, personal knowledge ,teacher knowledge, teacher practical knowledge, professional

knowledge and phronesis. The common denominator here being that learning takes place as a result of personal involvement in direct experiences which are related to real world problem and situations. What is crucial in experiential learning is ―that the phases of experiencing (doing), reflection and applying are present. In addition, the stages of reflection and application are what make experiential learning different and more powerful than the models commonly referred to as ―learn-by-doing‖ or ―hands-on-learning" (Kolb & Kolb, 2007). The term experiential learning is a broad term, generally used by educators to describe a series of pragmatic activities sequenced in such a way so © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

as to enhance the educational experience for the student learner (Moon, 2004). Experiential learning experiences help to complete students‘ preparation for their chosen careers by bridging the gap between theory (course content) and practice. Students learn through experiences by doing, discovering, reflecting and applying. Such kind of interactions with the social world help students to develop an ‗internal knowledge‘ help improve their communication skills, gain self-confidence and strengthen decision-making skills by responding to and solving real world problems and processes (Korthagen, 2001). Much has been written about the different types of Knowledge an educator needs to acquire. Shulman (1987) advocated three different types of such knowledge namely content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and curricular knowledge. While Aristotle (1941) distinguished several types of knowledge: techne (craft knowledge), episteme (propositional knowledge) and phronesis (practical wisdom) amongst others. Practical wisdom according to Aristotle differs from theoretical wisdom by an insistence on action. Practical wisdom includes judgment, understanding, and insight that leads to appropriate action which take into account the context and situation. Proponents of teacher‘s practical knowledge/wisdom advocate that such knowledge stems from the tacit personal reflection based on experience, context, and motivated by practice which is connected to the educator‘s subject area. Therefore, what student teachers need to acquire is practical wisdom (phronesis) is the ability to act in the most effective and proper way in every particular situation. Teacher Education (TE) programme round the world includes a component of practical experience that allows the students to reflect about their actions and learn from the experience gained. Aristotle's theory of Phronesis (practical wisdom) turns up more and more often in TE programs. Practical knowledge relates to one‘s actions and behaviours, and answers the question, "what must I do?" The answer to this question should cause a person to act. This study claim that if we want to create better teachers with knowledge relevant to their profession the TE programme proposed should provide scope for the ‗practical wisdom‘ to emerge. 2. Background Mauritius being no exception has included in its Teacher Education Programme, component of school-based education .This is commonly known as SBE- School Based Experience which has been introduced in an attempt to overcome the criticism that teacher education is not at par with the practices in schools. To this end, placing trainee educators in schools so that they become familiar with the work has become a common feature in all the teacher education programmes. The SBE consists of three phases. The first phase is the immersion, where trainees are expected to get familiar with the school setting. The second phase is the observation phase, a well-planned schedule is worked out for trainees to observe different classes. The third © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

phase is when trainees are called to teach in classes. Mentors are identified to guide trainees in schools. There are specific tasks that trainees need to complete for each phase and trainees are expected to submit a portfolio at their end of the SBE. The compilation of the SBE Portfolio is a professional development process through which trainees document their progress, accomplishments as well as reflections on their learning. During each SBE period, three Sharing Experience Seminars (SES) are conducted for the three phases. The Sharing Experience Seminars (SES) complement the SBE. These are scheduled at regular intervals after each phase of SBE where trainees discuss, narrate, and share their lived experiences in schools with their tutors. This present article originated from the stories that the pre-service student teachers shared with us during the seminars. 2.1 The Reasons for Conducting the Study There are three main reasons for venturing in this study. Firstly it is our personal interest. We have been involved in School based experience since the past seven years. At first there was the assumption that there is a whole drama which is staged when tutors go for school visits. After the SES sessions we realised that there are more to this staged drama and what we tutors see is only the tip of the iceberg. Our second motivation was to showcase the stories from the trainees which would provide insight on the type of landscapes prevailing at schools in relation to what is learnt at the university. We had the assumption that after following the education as well as the subject didactics, students should be able to teach without much difficulty. Here we were struck at the layers of complexities involved as there was no linear equation and instead a lot of voids and swampy lands. Finally there is a genuine belief that researching these stories will contribute to the scholarship about work based experience and help both mentors and tutors to better understand the predicament of novice trainee educators joining the profession. The objectives of this study are:  

to present the challenges and tensions that trainee educators face during their school based practicum. to gain insight on how theory and practice reconciliation is negotiated during school based experiences.

3. Methodology Bearing in mind the purpose of this research, which is to gain insight on pre-service teachers‘ lived experiences of their school-based practicum in relation to the knowledge acquired during their training, the narrative method has been adopted. As expressed by Clandinin & Connelly, (2000) ―Experience happens narratively … Therefore, educational experience should be studied narratively‖, (p. 19) .They further stated that ―Narrative inquiry is a way of understanding experience. It is a collaboration between researcher and © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

participants over time---Simply stated…narrative inquiry is stories lived and told‖ (p. 20). Narrative has also been defined as having first and second levels (Carr 1997). The first level is where the individual tells the stories of themselves and the second level narrative is the researchers‘ account of the stories .In this study the first level of narrative provided a chance for students to reveal their thoughts, feelings, and intentions during the phase three of their SBE. The second level help the researchers to understand the phenomenon. Therefore narrative inquiry relate to both the research method and the phenomenon (Pinnegar and Daynes 2006) or the phenomenon and the process (Connelly and Clandinin 1990). Three trainees were purposively chosen. Patton (2002) describe purposive sampling as a form of non-probability sampling where the researcher hand picks the cases, because they are considered typical or particularly interesting in relation to the research topic. As such three trainees who had joined the university without prior teaching experience were selected. Their first encounter with the schools as a teacher was during the SBE. The small sample of the present study (N = 3) allowed for depth of study (Patton, 2002) of the phenomenon as trainees recount their stories of their journey in schools. This is in line with Morse (1989) who claimed that ‗a good information source is someone who has undergone or is undergoing the experience and is able to reflect on and provide detailed experiential information about the phenomenon‘ (p. 121). The informed consent principles were adopted. Participants were briefed about the research project and were given assurance on anonymity and confidentiality through the use of pseudonyms (PST 1 –preservice teacher 1 and so on).Their consent for the recording of their stories were also negotiated. 4. Data collection Trainee telling their stories were the data collection method used. Stories are presumed to provide a holistic context that allows individuals to reflect and reconstruct their personal, professional and social experiences (Gill, 2001). Capturing these ‗untold‘ stories and analysing them will lead to a better organisational understanding and yield a far deeper insight into the complexity of life within the organisation. Initiating trainees to such community of sharing stories from the field give them a platform to reflect upon how field experience connects training with practice. The stories were tape recorded during the SES sessions. The stories were about the experiences that trainees had encountered in their respective schools. Trainees were encouraged to add on or reflect on the stories. Stories were collected during the sharing experience seminars. Each seminar lasted for two hours and was led by both tutors, namely one from the Subject Area and one from the Education Department. A total of six hours of seminars was held. 5. Analysis of data and the Theoretical Framework for the Study People tell stories, but narratives come from the analysis of stories (Frank, 2000). As Frank states that, ―the researcher's role is to interpret the stories in order to analyze the underlying narrative that the storytellers may not be able © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

to give voice to themselves‖ (p. 4). Therefore in order to illuminate how the stories about school experiences relate to or are in dissonance with the theories we had to opt for a framework so as to present a coherent picture. We decided to use Haynes (2007) Key Steps. This framework which has its roots in Schon (1983) work will allowed for reflections, self-reflections and applications. The stories were transcribed. Data were coded using the axial coding system under themes pertaining to the research objectives and analysed using Haynes (2007) Key Steps. Learning content is important, learning from the process is at the heart of experiential learning. During each step students will engage with their experiences following the Haynes (2007) key steps : Experiencing/Exploring ―Doing‖ , Sharing/Reflecting ―What Happened?‖, Processing/Analyzing ―What‘s Important?‖, Generalizing ―So What?‖, Application ―Now What?‖ .The first two steps (Experiencing/Exploring ―Doing‖ , Sharing/Reflecting ―What Happened? ) were used to encourage Preservice teachers to tell/share their stories and to self-reflect as well as get feedback from peer reflection .The third and fourth steps (Processing/Analyzing ―What‘s Important?‖, Generalizing ―So What?‖) were used to analysed what they have learned and to relate these to future learning experiences. Students were also encouraged to discuss how specific problems or issues were addressed. The last step (Application ―Now What?‖) aimed at helping to make connection with what they learned in the School Based Experience and the knowledge gained at University .Students were encouraged to discuss how issues raised can be useful in future situations and how more effective future behaviors can be established from what they have learnt. 6. Discussion following excerpts from the stories In the Experiencing/Exploring ―Doing‖, Sharing/Reflecting ―What Happened?‖ phase, the student teacher had many anecdotes to share. Some of them were stories of success where a class went well and they were able to answer students queries .It was also about being able to participate in school activities and when they felt they were part of the ‗school family‘. During this phase they also advised one another by sharing what has worked and how they tackled problem. There were also stories of distress where they related their frustration and fears. PST1- I can still remember the first day at school. Everybody was busy with their own thing. The Rector was not available and I was told that my Mentor was on sick leave. I was on my own. I stayed in the lobby and after sometimes I went in the library .I had prepared for this day for so long. I was at a loss. I had not slept on the eve. PST2: I was introduced as a trainee teacher to the class. I think the students are aware that I am here to learn and as such do not take my class seriously. They kept talking and disturbing the lesson. This annoyed me and I complained to my mentor. Instead of listening to me, the mentor was not helpful at all, she told me that they were very good students and that I needed to change the way I did things. I do not what I how I am going do when my tutor will come to visit me. PST3: I am completely shattered. So far I thought I was doing well. I had my lessons well planned, I used different teaching strategies. After a class test, my mentor called me © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

and asked me to explain why there are so many failures. I could not understand, why is she was blaming me of students’ performance. I had done only 2 lessons with them. During this stage student teachers were encouraged to help each other by proposing alternatives and solutions to problems. What emanated from these sessions is the way each of them were able to demonstrate empathy. We tutors could only admire the burgeoning of a community of practice among the preservice teachers. They were actively reflecting and encouraging their colleagues. There was no one way of dealing with these experiences and we tutors did not have answers for their queries. Our courses are mostly focused on empowering trainees with content and pedagogical knowledge and theories which clearly fall short when one has to deal with the routine of school life. How do we boost teacher‘s morale and self-confidence? How do we sustain this community of practice? What is the role of the teacher educator? There stories raised questions for our own practice and propelled us to reflect on what kind of teacher education we need to impart. During the phase of Processing/Analyzing ―What‘s Important? and Generalizing, there were stories where the novice teacher was trying to reconcile the knowledge gained at the University with what was happening in the real context of schooling. PST2: I was scoffed by the senior teachers who told me that lesson plans are not needed here and what is needed is to learn the survival techniques. I was preparing my lessons and had my things on the table. In fact the school where I am posted most of the teachers did not have their lesson plans PST1: I noticed that teachers were mostly using the chalk and talk methods…even my mentor. When I asked her if we could try the socio-constructivist’s methods, she just smiled and told me that these should be done at University and not in schools (same scenario for narrator 2 and 3).And my struggle is to use as many student–centered strategy ….even the students are so used with the traditional method of teaching that I am faced with a lot of resistance when I try using strategies like group work, roleplay …..What will I do when my tutors will come for teaching practice? PST3: I find the introductory part of the lessons most difficult. Gaining students’ attention and sustaining it was most difficult. Sometimes I asked questions and I did not get the answers as expected and then I am at a loss. I am worried what if I do not finish on time. I need to complete what I had planned to do. What was obvious from the stories was that the pre-service teachers were confronted with the proverbial clash between theory and practice at a very early stage of their SBE. ‗You will learn theory during lectures and will then apply it in practice‘ simply does not work. Throughout their stories it became clear to us that the knowledge acquired in teacher training did not help them to handle the uncertainty, the complexity and the instability of actual situations prevailing in practice. Over the last few years a number of researchers have brought up the problem of the relationship between theory and practice. Many solutions has been proposed to overcome

these notably: making Teacher Education Programme more ‗practical‘ ,coursework based and richer conceptions of teaching practice .However, linking theory to practice remain an elusive concept . Application phase-the way forward; The struggle of the novice teachers to succeed in their profession is evident in their stories. PST 1: The school I am posted for SBE is a co-educational institution. I feel really at a loss as I had been to a girls’ school and I do not really know how to cope with the boys. I feel very uncomfortable and they never listen to me. I am trying to cope with the situation by asking help from senior teachers who talk to the boys before I start my lesson. I am happy that they are helping me out, but I do feel embarrassed. The different teaching strategies learnt at the university are helping to keep the boys engaged. I am also reading on how to teach in boys schools. PST2: Students are so used working individually, when I put them in groups there are many problems…such as the grouping itself, classroom management issues and they did not like group work , they want me to give notes and tips for the test. However I was determined to make them learn how to work in groups. So I decided to bargain and negotiate with them…’you know kind of if you do this for me I will give you some tips’…this sounded unethical …but it worked.. PST3: Another issue is the administrative part of the job. I never knew that I had to be very careful of students’ attendance. what to do if someone is sick in the class, how to cope with situation of lateness, cheating, indiscipline, fights, bullying …This is too much as I had a lot to do with the SBE itself…I remember one day I was summoned in the Rectors office. One of the students who was supposed to be in my class was caught at the bus-stop. Now I know that to be a good teacher is not only doing lesson plans and reflecting on how to improve, but it is also knowing my students, their lives, what is troubling them…. The above extracts clearly showed that students were able to demonstrate a practical wisdom which had emerged through reflections. Frank (2004) work revealed that such kind of practical wisdom developed during reflections cannot be fully ‗articulated but is the guiding force‘ (p.57). Such unanswered dilemmas and uncertainties has been often referred as an inherent characteristic of the work in professional practice. The novice teachers were trapped in a theory– practice gap, which shows their restlessness. Kemmis, (2005) referred to this as a ―negative space‖—―a longing for something else‖ that is not currently present (p. 157). To some extent the SES provided a positive space that could address this void, however to be able to sustain such community of sharing is yet another debate. 7. Conclusion and what next? In Teacher Education Programmes, preservice teachers take internship, called School Based Experience to prepare them for teaching and they are also exposed to various aspects of the profession under the guidance of both the supervisor from the University as well as and the mentor in school. Prior to their internship in schools, the preservice teachers gain experience in planning © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

and teaching lessons during Peer/micro teaching module where their main task is to identify their weaknesses and strengths in a simulation class. The sharing experience seminars sessions after their on-job placement provide a very rich space where students come and share their lived experiences and build a community of practice. However from the study it is clear that most of the preservice teachers do not receive much feedback and support from their mentors. It was noted that when they tried to discuss issues with their mentors, the latter often took a defensive stance saying that they were novice teachers and they should know that what is true for the university is not necessarily applicable to real life situation. Experienced teachers routinise much of their practice, making it customary, programmed and ritualised (Eraut 2000; Oliveira, (2005).). This can be detrimental to novice teachers who need to learn from their practice and be engaged with their workplace (Abadzi, 2006). All stakeholders in pre-service teacher education need to work together to ensure that student-teachers successfully adapt and cope with the demands of school life. The role of the mentors in coaching the student is pivotal in the process. Directing students in how to apply their college-based learning in the school and the classroom are important aspects of mentoring. Mentors should help support and encourage students to move away from the periphery and join the community of practice of the school. Mentors should act as the bridge between university (theory) and workplace (practice). The authors therefore recommend that there is an urgent need to revisit the partnership which exist between the teacher education institution and the schools/mentors. The study has shed light on various ‗idiosyncrasies‘ of school life which should not be ignored as these are the concerns and realities of the pre-service teachers. It is important to empower trainees to create their own practical knowledge (phronesis), knowledge that will have meaning for them and will help them to act successfully in confusing and perhaps ambiguous situations. Meetings with school mentors and rectors is crucial to help novice teacher‘s deal with workplace situations. These would give students the confidence and security to try out ideas, to ask questions and to seek answers and elicit their support. The scope of future research on workplace learning should be widened by investigating further how workplace learning (practice) relates to teacher education (theory) or else we teacher educators, become mere accomplices in the system and therefore help promote the ‗staged drama‘ when we go to visit our trainees for their teaching practice sessions. References Abadzi, H. (2008). Efficient Learning for the Poor: New Insights into Literacy Acquisition for Children. International Review Of Education, 54(5-6), 581-604. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11159-008-9102-3 Aristotle (1941). The basic works of Aristotle. New York: Random House. Berliner, D. (2001). Learning about and learning from expert teachers. International Journal Of Educational Research, 35(5), 463-482. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s08830355(02)00004-6 Carr, D., (1997). ‗Narrative and the real world: an argument for continuity‘ in Hinchman © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

L. P. and Hinchman S. K., (Eds) Memory, Identity and Community: the idea of narrative in the human sciences. New York: State university of New York (pp.7-25) Clandinin, D. (2007). Handbook of narrative inquiry. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications. Clendenin, D. &Connelly, F., (2000). Narrative Inquiry: Experience and story in Qualitative research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Cochran-Smith, M. & Lytle, S. (2001). Beyond Certainty :Taking An Inquiry Stance On Practice. Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. (1999). Relationships of Knowledge and Practice: Teacher Learning in Communities. Review Of Research In Education, 24, 249. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1167272 Connelly, F. M., and Clandinin, D.J., (1990). Stories of experience and narrative inquiry. Educational Researcher. Vol. 19., No. 5 (Jun-Jul) pp.2-14 Darling-Hammond, L., & Youngs, P. (2002). Defining "Highly Qualified Teachers": What Does "Scientifically-Based Research" Actually Tell Us?. Educational Researcher, 31(9), 13-25. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0013189x031009013 Davis, E. (2006). Characterizing productive reflection among preservice elementary teachers: Seeing what matters. Teaching And Teacher Education, 22(3), 281-301. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.11.005 Elmore, R.F., S. (2004). School reform from the inside out: Policy, practice, and performance. Cambridge,. Cambridge: MA: Harvard University Press. Eraut, M. (2000). Non-formal learning and tacit knowledge in professional work. British Journal Of Educational Psychology, 70(1), 113-136. http://dx.doi.org/10.1348/000709900158001 Frank, A. (2000). Journal search results - Cite This For Me. Qualitative Sociology, 23(1), 135-156. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/a:1005411818318 Gill, P. (2001). Narrative inquiry: designing the processes, pathways and patterns of change. Syst. Res., 18(4), 335-344. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sres.428 Haynes, C., E. (2007). 5-step experiential learning cycle definitions. Experiential Learning: Learning By Doing. Retrieved from http://www.niu.edu/facdev/resources/guide/strategies/experiential_learning.p df Jackson, M. (2008). Book Review: Silverman, D. (2006). Interpreting Qualitative Data (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Qualitative Health Research, 18(7), 1012-1013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1049732308319769 Kaminski, E. (2003). Promoting Pre-service Teacher Education Students' Reflective Practice in Mathematics. Asia-Pacific Journal Of Teacher Education, 31(1), 21-32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13598660301619 Kemmis, S. (2005). Knowing practice: searching for saliences. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 13(3), 391-426. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14681360500200235 Kolb, A. Y. & Kolb, D. A. (2007a). Experiential Learning Theory Bibliography: 1971- 2005. www.learningfromexperience.com Korthagen, F. A. (2001). Linking Practice and Theory: The pedagogy of Realistic Teacher Education. London: :Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Moon, J., A. (2004). A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning.. London: RoutledgeFalmer. Morse, J. (1989). Qualitative nursing research: A free-for-all? In J. M. Morse (Ed.), Qualitative nursing research: A contemporary dialogue (pp. 14-22). Rockville, MD: Aspen. Oliveira, M. (2005). Using narrative in social research: Qualitative and quantitative approaches by Jane Elliott. Narrative Inquiry, 15(2), 421-429. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/ni.15.2.11oli ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Patton, M. (2002). Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods. NewYork :Sage, Pinnegar, S., and Daynes, J.G. (2006) Locating narrative inquiry historically: Thematics in the turn to narrative. In Clandinin D. J., (Ed). Handbook of Narrrative Inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Riessman, C.K., N. (1993). Narrative analysis, Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Schon, D. S., T. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner. London: Temple Smith. Shulman, L. (1987). Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.17763/haer.57.1.j463w79r56455411

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Special Issue, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 69-80, October 2015

School Leaders as Progress Makers: Opening a New Vista for School Leadership in Mauritius Nathalie Congo-Poottaren and Swaleha Beebeejaun-Rojee Lecturers, Mauritius Institute of Education, Reduit, Mauritius

Abstract. This small scale study aims at exploring how far school leaders consider themselves progress makers. This is felt important as there is now much emphasis on schools to be more successful in terms of both academic and socio-economic outcomes. The challenge lies in knowing how to make it happen. A qualitative research was conducted. Furthermore, this article expands current knowledge on school leadership by reporting data gathered from a group of school leaders (n=6) who were mandated during their course in educational leadership to explore new vistas in school leadership and be pioneers as progress makers. Data gathered by means of a semi-structured interview, was analysed using the conceptual framework developed by Clampitt and DeKoch (2011)1 on transforming leaders into progress makers. The main findings illustrate how school leaders struggle to come to terms with the various strategies and tactics associated with progress makers. The studyâ&#x20AC;&#x;s implications for future practice and training of school leaders are also considered. The authors hint that school leaders can become progress makers, that is, that metamorphosis can occur, if they consider leading differently and use new leadership practices. Keywords: Progress makers; School leaders

Introduction Mauritius is an island state 2040 kilometers square with a population of approximately 1.2 million people. It is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country. As far as the economy goes, Mauritius is economically competitive, and has a friendly investment climate. Its Gross Domestic Product was $ 22.05 billion and Gross Domestic Product per capita income was $ 16, 820 in 2014. There are 168 secondary schools in Mauritius. 63 are run by the state and 103 are run by the private sector but heavily subsidised by the Ministry of Education. In some schools, because of their size there is only a rector, or a rector and one or two deputy rectors. There is approximately a dozen of co-educational schools and the rest is either for boys or for girls. The statistics available indicate that in 2013, there were 7795 educators for 113, 872 students in secondary education. In all for ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

that year, there were approximately 245, 000 in the pre-primary, primary and secondary. Education is free and compulsory from 3 to 16 years old. Hence this study which is contextualised to our local realities is an attempt to explore how far school leaders behave as progress makers. Historically, school leaders were seen as those who would attend to the day to day running of schools in a rather routine way. Nowadays, things have changed and the role of school leaders has expanded. But one element which has come out strongly is that the school leader is central to the success of a school. “School leadership strongly affects student learning. Principals are central to the task of building schools that promote powerful teaching and learning for all students” (Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005, p.3). Findings from studies conducted later also came to the same conclusion (Leithwood, 2005; Masumoto & BrownWelty, 2009; Reardon, 2011; Robinson, 2011; Sebastian & Allensworth, 2012). School leaders are also seen as change leaders as they are no longer expected to maintain the status quo (Peterson, 2002). At the same time it is now recognised that school leaders have a daunting role to play n bringing about increases in school achievement (Leithwood et al. 2004). Contemporary school administrators play a daunting array of roles, ranging from educational visionaries and change agents to instructional leaders, curriculum and assessment experts, budget analysts, facility managers, special program administrators, and community builders (Davis, Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, & Meyerson, 2005). Running of a school is also seen as stressful, political, complex, and time consuming (Duke, Grogan & Yucker, 2003). At the same time, there is growing evidence of intensified accountability (Starr & White, 2008). There is furthermore more focus on results. Consequently, Heads of Schools are expected to be able to use data to drive decision making and assessment (Hellsten, Noonan, Preston & Prytula, 2013; Renihan & Noonan, 2012). Hence we find that while the job becomes more demanding, we can query if there is time to innovate and meet the new challenges with new, more adapted solutions. Consequently, the need arises to find out more from Heads of Schools themselves.

Statement of the problem Heads of Schools have to face many challenges in the day to day running of their schools. They are expected to create the appropriate climate which is conducive for learning. Heads of School also have to create the structures and practices which are necessary to help students achieve academic success. However, when we look deeper at the daily activities which are required to support what Heads of Schools need to do, we wonder when they have the time to act as progress makers. Yet this is what Heads of Schools need to become. Hence we find that there is need to investigate this issue further.

Research question How far do school leaders consider themselves as progress makers?

Literature review Clambitt and DeKoch (2011) developed a framework to define leaders who are progress makers. They found that there are seven strategies that these leaders adopt which make them progress makers. Envision the future with calculated boldness. Progress leaders do not take decisions boldly. They make calculations. This leads them to „act with deliberation, design and planning‟ (p.80). Whilst they do not take rash decisions but „act boldly when the right conditions prevail‟ (p.80). They are fully conscious that the context is dynamic and while they have to take this into consideration, they also need to stay focused on their vision. They need to think about growth and how to embrace opportunities which arise. They need to control their „natural brashness‟ (p.70). In fact, „they temper these impulses with calculation‟ (p.82). Cultivate a focused flexibility mind-set. While in most situation school leaders have to know where they are going and to determine strategies to move their schools in that particular direction, they also need to remain attuned to their environment. In fact, it seems essential to „maintaining the dynamic tension between focus and flexibility‟ (p.105). It is believed that as successes are encountered, there is a tendency to replicate what has worked into other areas of the organisation. Yet as this is done, the organisation loses sight of its environment and it becomes rigid. It happens that „success silently morphed into inertia‟ (p.107). Enlarge the circle of engagement. This involves deciding who to include and who to exclude. This also indicates getting the „right people‟ (p.127). Furthermore it involves getting the „right combination of people in order to create synergies‟ (p.126). There is need to have a balance in the team so that the team members can contribute productively towards the common goal. It is also essential that the team grows and develops as the initiative does. Foster the growth of investment-worthy employees. „Progress makers assume the responsibility of surrounding employees with the tools, experiences and challenges to fulfil their potential amid the storms everyday life‟ (p.150). This is done in a systematic way by ensuring that employees get tasks which help them build their competencies but they are also provided with constructive feedback. Progress makers can identify those employees who are able to adapt to changing circumstances, who are continuously learning and who embrace the organisational direction. Seek, nurture and evaluate actionable ideas. This occurs when progress makers „quickly shift direction is fueled by intellectual restlessness bent on the never-ending quest for the next actionable idea‟ (p.169). Hence, progress makers are opened to changes and are ready to change their course of action. They look for „incremental improvement or tweak to an existing process or product‟ (p.170). Therefore progress makers look for © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

ideas, nurture those they feel are right and evaluate them. All ideas which are accepted become actionable ideas. Select, detect and correct the proper errors. Progress makers learn from failures. They select what are considered as errors and they set up a mechanism to detect such types of errors. Then they correct the errors. They remain aware of the focus given to their organisation and in relation to this correct those errors which might threaten the feasibility of the goals identified for the organization. Practice receiver-centric, strategy-based, feedback-driven communication. Progress makers put emphasis on audience analysis. They anticipate „how different groups of people will respond to a particular message‟ (p.221). Then they plan accordingly. Hence they try to be effective in their communication and they work on „properly communicating particular messages” (p.221). Lastly, they get feedback. This allows them to „check message fidelity” (p.224).

Methodology For this study, as already indicated, qualitative method will be used. It was felt appropriate for this study because, as Rossman and Rallis (1998) have noted, “there are few truths that constitute universal knowledge; rather, there are multiple perspectives about the world” (p. 29). The qualitative method is relevant because it can express a richness and intensity of detail in a way that quantitative research cannot. Qualitative research methods allow for much more detailed investigation of issues - answering questions of meaning, such as why. More and more recognition is being given to the individual in the process, not just the observable effect of strategies upon a particular element. By exploring the Heads of Schools who have had leadership experiences, it will be possible to obtain “multiple perspectives” that further our understandings of this phenomenon. Each individual ascribes certain characteristics and attributes to any given situation. Also there exists little research on the topic; therefore, qualitative methods are suited for this study (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Since this study is exploratory in nature, the process of allowing the data to speak for itself further supports a qualitative method of inquiry. Given that qualitative methodology uses context, individual experience, and subjective interpretation, generalizability is not possible, nor is it a goal (Heppner, Kivlighan, & Wampold, 1999). This method is also congruent with the nature of the research problem. It is important to choose a data production “approach which will invite participants to offer a rich, detailed, first person account of their experiences” (Smith et al (2009, p.56). Accordingly the present study has used in-depth individual semi-structured interviews (Coolican, 2004). The choice of semistructured interviews permits a degree of structure to an interview where preidentified issues can be explored and discussed (Denscombe, 1998). These participants were interviewed. Cannell and Kahn (1968) have defined research interview as “ a two-person conversation initiated by the interviewer for the specific purpose of obtaining research-relevant information , and focused by him on content specified by research objectives of systematic description, © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

prediction or explanation”. It involves the gathering of information through direct verbal interaction between individuals. Respondents can feel free to say what they think without subjecting their views to peer scrutiny, as in a group discussion (Gray, 2004). The interview serves the purpose described by Tuckman (1972) as, by providing access to what is “inside a person‟s head”, [it] makes it possible to measure what a person knows (knowledge or information), what a person likes or dislikes (values and preferences), and what a person thinks (attitudes and beliefs). Issues of credibility have been addressed by adopting a research method, which is well established and used in various studies which have studied the experiences of participants. Furthermore, we have developed “an early familiarity with the culture of participating organisations” (Shenton, 2004, p.65). We got to know the organisation prior to starting the research and tried to develop “prolonged engagement between ourselves and the participants so that we develop a real understanding of each other and build a relationship of trust (Erlandson et al., 1993; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Another measure to ensure credibility has been used “tactics to help ensure honesty in informants” (Shenton, 2004, p.66). Therefore each person has been given the opportunity to refuse to participate in the project so as to ensure that the data collection sessions involve only those participants who are truly willing to participate. In addition, probes have been used to elicit data. Also iterative questioning has also been used. We have looked for respondent validation or member check (Bryman, 2012). We have provided our participants with an account of what he or she has said during the interview. The aim of this exercise was to seek corroboration between what the participants have revealed during the interviews and the transcripts of these interviews. Furthermore, whilst we were conducting an in-depth analysis of the data collected, we have supported my arguments with verbatim extracts. This is important as validity implies presenting an accurate and truthful account of the participants‟ experiences (Coolican, 2004). As far as the sample is concerned, purposeful sample was used. Only those school leaders following a course in educational leadership and management and who have explored school leaders as progress makers have been involved. This has limited the number to 6. These people represent „information - rich cases for study in depth‟ Patton (1990, p.169). It represents a powerful case to opt for purposeful sampling. In fact Patton (1990) adds that „Information-rich cases are those from which one can learn a great deal about issues of central importance to the purpose of the research‟ (p.169). Thus as we study these participants, we are able to discern more thoroughly and get more in-depth understanding about the issue under study. The idea is not to make empirical generalizations. Patton (1990) nicely summarises the importance of using purposeful sampling by saying that „information – rich cases whose study will illuminate the questions under study (p.169)) One issue which might look like a limitation of the study related to the use of only one form of data production tool. In fact, information was collected only from school leaders. The idea behind this exercise was to get school leaders to reflect on their lived experiences in order to make meaning out of them. Also in

line with principles of confidentiality and ethics, the participants have not been referred by their own names, but as Participant A, B, C, D, E.

Emergent themes and discussion Firefighting Participant B explained that leading school is “not an easy job”. He added that “there is a lot of pressure from all corners”. For participant A, it‟s like “treading on thin ice”. Leading schools is described as “complex”, “demanding” by Participant F. It would seem that school leaders take time to get used to the job and that as from that moment when they feel that they have mastered all the tasks that need to be done, they get into a comfort zone. They feel secured and confident with the way in which they are leading their school. They are many difficulties and expected events during a school day. Participant C said that “during a normal day, a school leader meets with many chaotic situations and needs to take a lot of decisions on the spot. We are reassured that there are other things going on as planned”. The participants seemed to be engrossed in a lot of firefighting. Hence as far as the other aspects of school life are concerned, they tend to “hold on to what they know”, “what has worked” explained Participant F. They lead in the same way and do not venture out of their comfort zone. Participant E added that he has taken “time and energy to master my leadership practices” and that he is “happy with the way he is leading his school”. It would seem that the pride that school leaders take in their current leadership practices prevents them from embracing new leadership practices. Only participant E considered that “perhaps it‟s time to change”. He considered that “holding on to the past might not be what a school needs”. But this opinion is not expressed with a lot of confidence. At the same time, it would seem that leadership is a lonely position as the school leaders do not involve other people. They do not take any risk. They do not venture outside the beaten path. Hence school leaders show that they do not envision the future with much calculated boldness, nor do they take any bold incentive to enlarge the circle of engagement from employees. Used to analyse an issue in a particular way – stick to the book Another idea expressed by participant D is linked to their autonomy and the fact that they feel that they need to “stick to the book”. This refers to the School Management Manual which is given to the school leaders and which explains how they need to lead the school. The education authorities have tried to cover most aspects of school life in the School Management Manual (SMM). Hence school leaders get used to analyse issues in particular ways and they thus remained “locked” and they do not consider “other ways” of doing things as mentioned by Participant F. Furthermore, Participant F revealed that the SMM is „a blessing in disguise‟ as it helps in decision making but limits the scope of possibilities. Participant A explained that if other people want to bring suggestions, it has to be in line with the SMM, otherwise they are disregarded. Participant C talked about “reporting” and “having to explain in writing” how the procedures set down in the SMM have been followed. It seems that school leaders in this case are so focused on following the SMM that they do not allow other initiatives to be examined nor do they make space for other people to bring © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

their contribution. They miss the opportunities to judge the talents of their staff and collaborators. They are not able to fully foster the growth of investment of worthy employees. At the same time, school leaders do not eagerly seek, nurture and evaluate actionable ideas. Easy way out Furthermore, it would seem by the way that the school leaders relate events that happen at school and how they handle them that it times they choose they easy way out. Participant A explained that “there is so much to do”. He thus added that “you need to move on”. As a result of which they tend to take the easy way out and do not take enough time to consider other options. Participant B mentioned that if he “allows discussions about certain issues it would trigger further discussion”. It would seem that their unwillingness to handle discussions or engage into discussions around issues prevent them from considering other options. They tend to opt for a “quick fix” as declared by Participant F. There is also an ego issue as school leaders do not readily enlarge the circle of engagement. Furthermore, we can also consider that school leaders here also, do not do much to seek, nurture and evaluate actionable ideas. Procrastinate On the other hand, though it might look contradictory, participants also mentioned that they tend to procrastinate at times. Participant A explained that there are some decisions that are “hard to take because of the consequences they might have on the school and on their careers”. So some of them might procrastinate because they are “unsure about” what they have to do. Participant F is more direct in his answer, since he stated that “at times, we procrastinate because of we do not know how to complete certain tasks”. Yet when prompted further, the participant does not seem to put time aside to reflect on the issue and consider other options. They tend to focus on saving face and thus inhibits acknowledging mistakes. School leaders thus do not engage in correcting errors. Only one enthusiastic but others hold divergent opinions Participant A explained that at times school leaders might be all fired up about a new strategy. They might feel that the school would benefit. However, their enthusiasm does not catch on the way that they expected it would. The staff does not respond with the expected enthusiasm. They react with indifference or with negativity. Participant B mentioned that there are “discouraging times”. School leaders meet with people who spend time to criticise them for trying to do things differently instead of trying to analyse how the proposed change might be beneficial for the school. Participant F stated that “it‟s like swimming against the tide! It is tiring and discouraging!”. This attitude thus becomes a major roadblock before they even get started. The school leaders are not able to seek, nurture and evaluate actionable ideas, even though they have tried to be inventive. Unsuccessful past experiences Participants explained that they have often attended workshops and seminars where they hve met powerful speakers. They first exposure was „inspiring‟ and © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

they came back to school with new ideas. Participant C explained that following one of these workshops he has tried to adopt a new idea in his school. He added that at the beginning his staff adopted the initiative and they got on board, but it was difficult to sustain the momentum. Follow up efforts were laborious. After some time the initiative has had to be abandoned. Participant D mentioned that he too has tied new initiative but had to carry it alone. He had to back pedal as it was not feasible to lead the project alone. Consequently, although their experienced are different both school leaders felt that before they decide to embark on a new initiative they tend to be held back by their past unsuccessful experience. This tends to act as a potential drawback which keeps them from leading differently. This shows that the school leaders are not able to enlarge the circle of engagement. Prejudice On the other hand, participant E explained that he does not believe in the „new wave‟. He feels that in the workshops he has attended the speakers do not seem to be in touch with the realities of the audience. They tend to propose initiatives which are not feasible in the local context. The idea was also taken up by Participant D who felt that „outsiders‟ cannot „know better than us‟. Participant F felt that the strategies which were proposed even if contextulised, “will not be appropriate”. It would seem that this group of school leaders come with the preconceived idea that they will not learn anything worthwhile. Their prejudice seems like a major stumbling block which prevents them from taking advantage of new ideas. This is also related to their ego and ultimately they are not able to enlarge the circle of engagement. Where to start Another issue which crops up is linked to knowing where to start. Participant E mentioned that when embarking on a change journey, the most important thing is to „know where to start‟. He added that „not knowing where to start or starting at the wrong moment might negatively impact on a new initiative‟. Furthermore, Participant B talked about when he started a new project, he wanted to bring everyone on board. But this was „overwhelming‟ and proved „distressful‟. He explained that he thought he communicated well but the others always complained about not having been properly informed. It was a bad experience. Participant F felt that “tasks can look so complex”. Hence it would seem that not knowing where they should start impacts on their willingness to embrace change. School leaders cannot envision the future with calculated boldness. Additionally, they have not adopted a very effective communication strategy.

Evaluation and recommendations It would seem that there is need for schools to work out on getting the proper background ready for them to be able to successfully become progress makers. An analysis of the comments made by the participants highlight various lacunas which can be tackled in providing a different kind of preparation or professional development to school leaders. We cannot ignore the comments made by Brundrett and Crawford (2008) and Hallinger (2003) who claim that 21st century leaders have not been effectively prepared to take up school leadership © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

position or the claim made in OECD Report on Improving School Leadership (2008) which states that „There is a growing concern that the role of school principal designed for the industrial age has not changed enough to deal with the complex challenges schools are facing in the 21st century‟ (p.16). Hence in their preparation or professional development, school leaders need to come across opportunities that will allow them to : Realise that school leaders are vital to the core purpose of schools. When school leaders engage in various strategies which they feel will be beneficial for the schools, it is important for them to realise that the relationship between them and the student achievement has long been established. They are an important element in building the success of the school so that they need to come up with initiative which they can handle. There is need to maximise the effectiveness of the role of the school leaders. Expand the capacity of the school leaders. In order to adopt new practices, it is important to first take stock of the actual capacity of school leaders. Given their load of work, it is to be feared that they are at or nearing their practical limit. It is a fact that new and more and more challenging expectations are being placed on school leaders. In order for school leaders to expand their potential, there is need to provide them with more training which can help them to handle new initiatives more effectively, but also some kind of mentoring or coaching to allow them to get the support which they need. It is also important to use instructional methods which would give school leaders the opportunity to engage in discussion which would help to raise their critical consciousness. At the same time, school leaders must also be helped to see how they can support theory with examples. The relevancy of topics which are taught should be highlighted. In fact, the basis of the programme should rely on andragogy. When working with adults those delivery courses should apply andragogy. This is critical as adults learn in a different way. Attempts must be made to raise school leaders‟ pedagogical critical consciousness by studying case studies based on real examples, that is, evidence based practices. During their professional development, they need deeper engagement strategies so that the school leaders can undergo critical and transformative change. The school leaders could be encouraged to read controversial readings which could lead them to question their own biases. This could lead to situations where reflection informs practice. Choose the strategies depending on their context Another important element to take into consideration is the context. Since each context is different, school leaders have to realise that some strategies have a greater impact than others. When trying to become progress makers, school leaders have to bear in mind that they might not intervene on the whole framework. They need then to concentrate on those dimensions which they can change.

Focus on what can be done Since there are seemingly growing pressure on school leaders and more challenges which now exist, then the school leaders have to focus on few strategies which they feel will impact more on the life of the school. There is need for school leaders to prioritise their strategies and to focus on those strategies which seem more efficient and more effective and which are within the scope of the school leader as well as the school. The school must have the necessary resources, physical and human, to implement the strategies. In times of such challenges, it is even more essential to constantly review the list of priorities which a school leader has to tackle. Evaluate competing strategies As we investigate how school leaders are as progress makers, we need to realise that there are other initiatives and strategies which are available and that at times school leaders find themselves overburdened with strategies and not very sure which one to use. All the strategies which are being proposed are credible and if properly implemented will certainly yield significant improvement for the school. Yet, the school leaders will have to determine which ones are the most important and which combination of strategies will work best for the school. They need to embrace the strategies which speak to their own context and run with it. Develop supportive networks It would seem that given the various constraints encountered by the school leaders, that they could among themselves develop a supportive network. This would provide them with opportunities to share ideas and projects. They could also provide emotional support and encouragement and provide assistance wherever needed. They could help to monitor projects and circulate to appraise the situation and provide suggestions and comments. This network will serve as a platform for school leaders to learn new practices and they could investigate ways to support other school leaders in leading their schools. The experience shared by the school leaders would serve to improve practice. These new educational intervention could induce school leaders to lead differently and adopt new leadership practices. Hence these networks will allow school leaders to find allies, access tools, share practical wisdom, and build collaborative strategies. Networking would indeed help them to share resources and information, devise an agenda, and engage in collective action within their schools. Supervise, train and support teachers School leaders must also be taught how to supervise, train and support teachers in carrying out projects which will lead to school improvement. In their quest to be progress makers, school leaders have to challenge the existing school culture. Consequently, they might need help in order to provide the appropriate support to the teachers. They need to show to teachers that they need to relentlessly review their practice and should be flexible and adapt to the current context. This is also what they themselves should be doing.

Conclusion Hence, we find that there is need to have an inspiring training programme for school leaders. But there are also strong claims for continued professional development as the school system is dynamic. In the future, there is need to include knowledge and information on a variety of issues impacting the education sector. School leadership cannot be considered in isolation. There are other issues which are impacting on schools and school leaders must be able to see how to handle these issues simultaneously. The school leaders need to be empowered so that they dare to venture on new paths. School leaders are expected to redesign the existing organisational structures. Furthermore, we also find that they also have to redefine and redistribute leadership across the organisation. This will promote greater engagement and ownership from the staff. This in turn will promote student achievement. We also find that a change in the roles and responsibilities of school leaders. They would need to have more lines of communication with the different stakeholders.

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Leithwood, K., Seashore-Louis, K., Anderson, S., & Wahlstrom, K. (2004). How leadership influences student learning, Learning From Leadership Project Executive Summary. New York: The Wallace Foundation. Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Masumoto, M., & Brown-Welty, S. (2009). Case study of leadership practices and schoolcommunity interrelationships in high-performing, high-poverty, rural California high schools. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 24(1), 1–18. Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd Eds.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Reardon, R. M. (2011). Elementary school principals‟ learning-centered leadership: Implications for principals‟ professional development. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 10(1), 63–83. Robinson, V. (2011). Student-centered leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Rossman, R. B., & Ralllis, S. F. (1998). Learning in the field: An introduction to qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Sebastian, J., & Allensworth, E. (2012). The influence of principal leadership on classroom instruction and student learning: A study of mediated pathways to learning. Educational Administration Quarterly, 48(4), 626–663. Shenton, A. K. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Education for Information, 22(2), 63-75. Starr, K., & White, S. (2008). The small rural school principalship: Key challenges and cross school responses. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 23(5), 1–12. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Tuckman, B.W. (1972). Conducting educational research. New York: Harcourt Brace, Jovanovich.

International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research Special Issue, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 81-101, October 2015

Exploring the potentials of Intercultural Education in sustaining Social Cohesion in Small Island Developing States Jabeen Bibi Soobratty The Graduate School of Global Studies Doshisha University,Japan Abstract. The process of globalisation has made the world increasingly intertwined. Diversity in term of cultures, nationalities, faiths and ethnic backgrounds has become an intrinsic characteristic of all societies. Furthermore,most countries around the globe share concerns about social cohesion and stability. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which has an economic backwardness, fragile ecosystem and social fabrics were mainly built on multicultural pillars. The features of SIDS make social inclusion more important than ever in order to survive in the global change. A system of education for a sustainable society has a pivotal role to play to support a cohesive society. Fostering social cohesion in SIDS will enable such society to be more cohesive and thus be equipped with the necessary inclusive mechanisms for managing conflicts. In order to promote respect for and acceptance of diversity in today`s societies, Intercultural Education is proposed as a powerful mechanism to strengthen social cohesion. In section one, the vulnerabilities of SIDS will be highlighted. This section is trying to answer the crucial question of: Why social cohesion is vital to SIDS more than other countries? In section two, the emergence of interculturalism and intercultural education in multicultural societies will be discussed. While section 3 will be focusing on the possibilities of implementing intercultural education in the educational systems of SIDS. Keywords: Intercultural Education; Developing States

Social Cohesion;

Small Island

Introduction The process of globalization has changed the world into an increasingly diversified one. That diversity - in term of cultures, nationalities, faiths and ethnic backgrounds - has become a remarkable characteristic of almost all societies around the world, and this diversity has led to the rise of multiculturalism as a key factor to understanding and addressing any societal problem facing any country. ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Social cohesion is an essential foundation for cohabitation in this era of multiculturalism. Durkheim (1893) called the social ties that unite a society as the ―social solidarity‖ which bond individual together. However, violence, social tensions, migration, and the current global economic recession have brought to the forefront a crisis in various social domains. Brigg and Bleiker (2011) have argued that cultural difference is invoked in conflicts that beset today`s world. Sen (2006) stressed out that due to the illusion of the predominance of a unique identity, conflicts and violence are sustained today. Eventually over the past two decades, the role of education in promoting social cohesion has been in the spotlight. Policymakers and educationalists are preoccupied to find solution to address the various threats to social integration. The cognitive development is a very crucial in a child and will eventually reflect in his or her adult's development. In order, to sustain the social fabrics, learning about social relationships, interaction and respect for individual must be an important part of every young child's development. For a future with social cohesion, it is crucial to begin by working with young children. In this proces, Intercultural Education can be used as a powerful mechanism to strengthen the social cohesion and to build the peace foundation in the society, and to promote respect for and acceptance of diversity in today's multicultural societies. Intercultural Education is defined as ―applied social science promoting the dialogue between cultures and civilizations, as well as supporting the development of democratic multicultural societies‖1.The distinctive advantage of the intercultural education lies in the fact that it allows the individual to go beyond passive coexistence, to achieve a developing and sustainable way of living together in multicultural societies. In a recent report, UNESCO 2 had emphasized the importance of the intercultural education as a vital factor leading to social cohesion and to maintain social peace. Intercultural education alone cannot achieve social cohesion, but, it can play an important role to strengthen the social fabrics in a multicultural society.

Small island developing states (SIDS) are a particular case in this regards, as their societies are mainly built on multicultural pillars. The multiculturalism is a building block of the society rather than a result of external changes in the surrounding conditions. In the relevant literature, it has been noticed that one of the conceptual problem underlying the definition of SIDS depends on how to define ―smallness.‖ The most commonly used criterion, in recent years, has been a population of 1.5 million or below, specifically 52 islands, which have an extremely fragile ecosystem, social fabrics and economic backwardness. In SIDS, people from different continents have migrated and lived for centuries in the majority of cases with the island indigenous population creating natural crosscultural bridges through marriages, language, and other social immersion mechanisms. Multicultural policies have been introduced in the late years of the 1

Bleszynska, Krystyna. "Contructing intercultural education." Intercultural Education, Vol. 19, No.6, December 2008: 542. 2 Intercultural education is proposed by UNESCO(2006)as a response to the challenged offered by the rapid changing world leading to multicultural societies. Available at:http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001478/147878e.pdf © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

colonial periods and during the early stages of the independent, to conciliate with the diversified society to ensure social cohesion and stability. However, the intrinsic disadvantages of SIDS, namely the environmental, social fragility and a high degree of economic vulnerability have made social cohesion more important than ever to survive in the rapid global change. A stable social order is of particular importance for small states to ensure peace and progression. This research paper will focus on and develop the current interest to work towards the integration of intercultural education within SIDS educational system. There is little discussion within the social science literature, on the effects of intercultural education in sustaining social cohesion in SIDS. However, there exists an abundant amount of literature based on intercultural education in multicultural societies aside of SIDS (Portera,1998; Gundara,2000 and Coulby,2006), which can provide a framework for this research paper. In other words, examining the application of intercultural education in the educational field can provide the ground and rationale upon which this research will be based. The fact that this paper is exploring new grounds, namely the potentials of intercultural education in sustaining social cohesion in SIDS, the methodology for this study will based on a desk review of the academic literature, policy documents and reports which are related to this research topic. After this introduction, section one will highlight the main sources of the vulnerability of SIDS. This section is trying to answer the crucial question of; Why social cohesion is vital to SIDS ? In section two, the emergence of interculturalism and intercultural education in multicultural societies will be discussed. While the third section will be focusing on the possibilities of implementing intercultural education in the educational system of SIDS. The paper will conclude with the discussion of the centrality of the social cohesion in SIDS to build their resilience in response to ―their vulnerabilities.‖ And intercultural education has the potentials of fostering sustainable social cohesion in SIDS. This paper is leading the efforts in addressing the unique correlation between intercultural education and the vulnerable situation of SIDS, and it paves the road for further future research to be enriched in this field.

1. The vulnerabilities of SIDS This section will highlight the three primary sources of the vulnerabilities of SIDS, namely their economic, environment and social fabrics. SIDS are vulnerable to harm or damage originating from internal and external forces. Such islands faced vulnerabilities that are outside their control. In the vast majority of conceptualizations of SIDS, the economic and environmental vulnerabilities are now primary whereas social factors (including social development) are now addressed as secondary considerations (Campling and Rosalie;2006). However, in this section, the importance of SIDS‘s social stability will be highlighted. The 52 small islands states are mainly located in two regions, 23 in the Caribbean Ocean and 20 in the Pacific Ocean. While 9 are scattered across Africa, Indian © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Ocean, Mediterranean and the South China Sea. Small islands states are described as low-lying coastal countries that generally share similar sustainable development challenges namely; small but growing population with limited resources, remoteness, prone to natural disasters, high dependency on international trade and a fragile ecosystem. Indeed the future of Islanders is insecure due to several factors like the climatic threats, threats of coastal erosion, the economic decline in the world upon which small island states depend on and their dependence resulting from the interconnections of the world. Since the 1970`s there has been a remarkable interest in small island developing states. The broad focus of the SIDS literature 3 according to Crosslay and Sprague (2013) can be presented in three stages: First in the 1970s, the focus was on the socio-economic development (Benedict 1967; Selwyn 1975; Shand 1980; Dommen 1980; Jalan 1982;). Secondly in the 1980s there is an emerging concern with SIDS geopolitical security (Cohen 1983b; Commonwealth 1985; Harden 1985; Clarke and Payne 1987). Thirdly, in the 1990`s the main focus has been on the vulnerability of SIDS economies and environment (Atkins et al; 2000; Biagini and Hoyle 1999; Briguglio 1995; Commonwealth Secretariat-World Bank 2000). However, It was at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)4, where SIDS were recognized as a special case both for their environment and development. This was the beginning of acknowledging the threats faced by SIDS related to current global environmental and development challenges.

1.1 Economic vulnerabilities The economy of SIDS share several common structural characteristics such as;small domestic market with limited scope to exploit economies of scale; lack of natural resources; high dependency on import of food and fuel; dependence on a very small-scale export products; incapacity to influence international prices; unreliability of supply due to remoteness and insularity (Commonwealth Secretariat 1985). Briguglio(1995) explained that the economic vulnerability of SIDS is profoundly determined by forces outside their authority, mostly because of their economic openness and high reliance on a limited range of exported products. Seychelles, for example, has a non-diversified economy. Its economy is heavily reliant on international trade. It imports around 90 percent of its population`s and tourist's consumption. Consequently, the island has gone through the negative balance of trade. A report5 shows that in the ten year period 1992â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2001 Seychelles had an average annual balance of trade deficit of Seychelles Rupees (SR) 976 million. Therefore, the international fluctuation in 3

From the outset, it is important to point out that SIDS literature have been promoted by international institutions like UNESCO, UN and Commonwealth Secretariat. Such institutions have brought experts in economic, social, governance and environment field to raise international awareness of SIDS vulnerabilities and their sustainable development needs. There is a limited literature on SIDS which is not part of the above mentioned institutions. SIDS are extremely reliable on these institiutions. 4 5

Also known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (3-14 June 1992), Reported by the Central Bank of Seyechelles

the world economic can have drastic adverse effects on a non-diversified economy like Seychelles. Campling and Rosalie (2006,119) describes this peculiar situation of the economic vulnerabilities of Seychelles by stating: ―Like all SIDS, Seychelles is a ‗price-taker‘ in the world economy and is thus structurally vulnerable to external shocks and the vagaries of global capitalism‖. On the other side, a few SIDS like Singapore have managed to generate high income per capita in spite of its vulnerability. In the related literature, Singapore is referred to as the ―Singapore Paradox‖(Briguglio:1995) which indicates a small island state like Singapore can be exposed to economic vulnerabilities but yet manage to attain high level of capital. The reason for this is that it is possible for SIDS, under specific conditions, to build up their resilience to improve their ability to cope with vulnerability. Professor Briguglio has explained through the illustration below(Table1) how small state when exposed to external shocks is able to absorb, meet or bounce back from adverse shocks. For instance, Singapore through a good governance, sound macroeconomic management, market efficiency and social cohesion have made use of its strategic geographic position within the global trading system to build its resilience.

Table 1: Juxtaposing Vulnerabilty and Resilience in SIDS (Briguglio:2004)

1.2 Environmental vulnerabilities The environmental vulnerability of SIDS acts as a magnifier of the other vulnerabilities. Consequently, the fragile and vulnerable economy of SIDS can be damaged further due to SIDS proneness to natural disasters such as cyclones, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and earthquakes. Due to its inherent smallness, any of these natural calamities can significantly affect the lives and livelihood of the inhabitants as a whole. The enormous impact of environmental vulnerabilities on all aspects of life in SIDS made it a crucial impeding force against the pursuit towards sustainable development in these vulnerable islands. Furthermore, the relation between environmental vulnerability and economic development is two ways. As the process of economic development in SIDS has affected the environment at a larger scale comparing to other countries. The majority of SIDS depend on their coastal zone for tourism and marine related activities. Furthermore, increasing demand for residential housing, tourism, and industrial buildings has led to a drastic depletion of land. Another example is the problem of waste management. Though it is a major problem facing most developing countries, however, the impact on SIDS is likely to be more severe due to the small size territory of these islands(Briguglio:2013) One of the major environmental problems facing SIDS - being island states by definition - is the threatening rise of sea level due to the global warming. Maldives, for example, located to the west of India, consisting of over 1,100 islands is considered by experts as the world's lowest-lying nation (Ghina:2003). On average the islands are only 1.3 meters above sea level. As indicated by Ghinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s research, the situation in the country is very alarming. Due to significant beach erosion and its low-lying elevation, a rise of just three feet in sea level would submerge Maldives and make the island uninhabitable 6. Other island states in the Pacific Ocean, like Kiribati and Tuvalu, are also at the risk to disappear due to rising sea levels. In addition, what makes the environmental vulnerabilities of SIDS having a catastrophic impact on people's lives, is the lack of sufficient disaster mitigation capabilities like hazard forecasting ability, laxity in the enforcement of procedures and inefficient insurance system. Once again, Singapore stands out as a distinctive exception among SIDS reflecting its relatively high levels of economic development and infrastructural capabilities (Mark Pelling and Uitto:2001). After joining the Kyoto Protocol in 2006, Singapore has formed the National Climate Change Committee, which focused on five areas: mitigation, public awareness, competency building, vulnerability, and adaptation. The island has taken initiatives to foster its understanding of climate change and its repercussions. However, the majority of SIDS are not equipped to face disasters.

Ministry of Home Affairs,Hus.&Envâ&#x20AC;&#x;t,Republic of Maldives,First National Communication of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations framework Convention on Climate Change 2(2001), available at http://unfccc.int/resource/ docs/natc/maldnc1.pdf. ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

1.3 Social vulnerabilities The social fabrics of SIDS are characterized by multiculturalism, as the societies are composed of people of different ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. Researchers like Springer and Roberts(2011) in their paper titled ―Partnerships for sustainable development in small states‖ had noticed that the social structure of the community can be very vulnerable to the economic strife, environmental changes, government policies or internal events and forces. Mauritius serves as a very demonstrative example of this social vulnerability and its tight correlation with the economic situation of the country, which worth a brief highlighting of this case. Mauritius is an island situated in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar and is noteworthy for its extraordinary demographic diversity or as it‘s been frequently referred to by the Mauritian community as ―The Rainbow Nation‖. The Mauritian society is heterogeneous in terms of ethnic, linguistic and religious dimensions. As for the ethnic dimension, Mauritian society consists of four main ethnic groups: 1) Indo-Mauritians, around 67% of the population and they are the descend of migrants from the Indian subcontinent, came as endangered laborers mainly during the British and or French colonial periods. 2) AfroMauritians, who are the descendants slaves brought to the island by both French and British to work in the sugar production, and they are representing now around 28% of the population. 3) Sino-Mauritians, around 3%, and consists of the Chinese traders who moved to the island basically for the economic reasons during the colonial periods. 4) The remaining 2% are called Franco-Mauritians, and they are the descendants of the European sailors, colonial‘s staff and colonial landlords. Furthermore, the diversification gets deeper as in each of the four main ethnic groups mentioned above, a religious and linguistic diversification level appears. As the Indo-Mauritian group ,for example, is divided among several religious groups (Hindus,Tamil, Telegu, Marathi, Muslims, Christians and Buddhists) and numerous linguistic affiliations (Creole, Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Tamil, Chinese, Marathi, Telegu, French, English). As of today, despite the zero net migration rate and the small size of the population, the society has an unexpected diversified composition. The island has been identified as amongst the most peaceful and stable democratic in the African continent 7 . Its success story is based primarily on its good economic performance and on the apparent interracial peace and harmony. However, as some researchers noticed that an important social issue is being undermined and went unnoticed during focus on the economic development, that‘s the building of sustainable intercultural bridges amongst all these levels and sublevels of diversified social structure has been neglected. Bunawaree (2002)8 stated that clearly in her research about ―Economics, conflicts and interculturality in small island state‖ and as an expert in the social issues facing the Mauritian society she 7

The Institute for economics and growth has rated, Mauritius, according to the Global Peace Index(2014) as the “the most peaceful African country” in 2014 and it ranked 24 th globally 8 Bunwaree, S. "Economics, Conflicts and Interculturality in a Small Island State: The case of Mauritius." Polis/R.C.S.P.?C.P.S.R. Vol.9,Numero Special, 2002: 1.

believes that ―In the process of channeling its energies towards the consolidation of its economy, Mauritius has benefited from the emergence of some form of economic nationalism and has perhaps ignored the need to develop a strong sense of interculturality‖. In other words, social stability is not well established in the island. Fiji and Solomon Islands have an important lesson to share with other SIDS, as they have gone through problems that threatened their social cohesion due to ethnic or religious affiliation. For examples: violent conflict in Fiji between indigenous Fijians and Indian migrants and in the Solomon Islands between natives of Guadalcanal and Malaita Islanders have undermined the social cohesion. Such islands have undergone social conflicts or riots, which in turn impact negatively on productivity and sustainable development in general (Briguglio: 2003). The negative social impact will have a deeper negative effect on SIDS compared to most developing countries, due to their inherent vulnerabilities. Besides, dispute and discard can quickly spread throughout the small island states and become amplified into major conflicts. However, some researchers appear to indicate that social cohesion is stronger in SIDS than larger countries. Smallness is used as an important variable in analyzing social cohesion. Many small island states don‘t experience an overt form of conflicts. Streenten (1993) believed that SIDS is more flexible and resilient in the face of conflicts. Whereas Bary (1992) attributed the success of social cohesion in small society due to the concept of `managed intimacy‖. According to managed intimacy smallness results in close proximity that acts positively, as in small islands states, people learn to get along in their daily life with others. To minimize open conflicts, the islanders focused on the social mechanism to function without undue stress. For example, people tend to become expert at muting hostility, deferring their views, avoiding a dispute in the interests of stability and compromise. Thus, they managed to live together in a small restricted place. However, in large societies it is easy to take issue with someone you seldom need or never meet again, but to differ with someone in a small society in which you share a long mutual history and expect to go on being involved in countless ways is another matter. These points of views are certainly not shared by all researchers. A Commonwealth Secretariat9 Advisory group study revealed that:―Community and political security are particularly important for small states, given that dispute and discord can quickly spread throughout society and become magnified into major challenges to social and political order‖. The integration of social fabrics in SIDS is crucial.

1.4 The importance of social cohesion to SIDS The small, isolated, dependent, resource-poor economy that is caught in the competitive global world will need to deepen its social inclusion to be in better position to face these challenges. That‘s why in SIDS, more than other nations, social cohesion can act as an essential platform in the efforts toward fighting poverty, reducing inequalities, and marching towards inclusive societies which is among the key goals of sustainable development. Small islands nations need 9

the full membership of all its citizens to put hands in their society to shape a collective destiny to face their vulnerabilities. Social inclusiveness is the key to build a strong resilience. If SIDS create a strong, inclusive approach towards the members of their society, it will in return act as a force for social cohesion. It is essential to ensure harmonious interaction among people within a diverse society to ensure their willingness to live and cooperate to build their resilience. Educational policies that ensure inclusion and participation of all citizens can foster and safeguard the social cohesion. Taking the case of Mauritius as an example, the interculturality among the different ethnic groups has not been given enough attention and instead there has been a ―collage‖ of cultures that in many ways prevented the emergence of social inclusiveness. The alarming consequences of this apparent interracial peace are that Mauritius remains fragile and vulnerable on the long term, especially if the economic position of any of the social fabric has changed. Which indicates that a genuinely sustainable peace is not deeply rooted in the society. This challenging risk is not of a theoretical nature, as the island, has witnessed at least two serious social conflicts in about thirty years10 despite the general peace and harmony which is at the surface of the social structure. Furthermore, the official Mauritian government slogan of ―Unity in Diversity‖ didn‘t help much in creating a true sense of unity amongst the different shades of diversity in the society. On the contrary, it has contributed to present the various cultures in a mosaic structure instead of being integrated into one society. The question to be asked is how to promote the cultures of different groups in SIDS, foster the social fabrics and bring a real interculturality between them? In what way should the social fabric be enhanced in order to reduce tension or latent ethnic conflicts? Within the context of social cohesion, Intercultural Education has an important role to play. The ultimate objective of the intercultural education is to build up an inclusive society, where every culture is valued, respected and have a vital role in contributing in the social structure. Intercultural education can be an efficient tool to enhance sustainable social cohesion. In the light of the vulnerabilities being faced by SIDS, it is apparently clear that they will have to depend on their resources to build their resilience. The most valuable resource that SIDS possess is its human capital. This made both researchers and policy makers to draw particular attention to education and training of population in accordance with the national goals for sustainable development. And intercultural education plays a significant role in the overall

Early in 1968, just before the accession of Mauritius to independence and in the heat of the political competitions, a serious tension between Muslims and Christians had emerged which led to racial riots. As the country was still under the British authority, British troops had to enforce law and order again. The second serious social conflict was not later than February 1999, where the sense of injustice felt after the death in police cell of a popular singer quickly led the country to the brink of an ethnic confrontation between Hindus and Christians. The country had witnessed also several other ethnic related social unrests. Ethnic related incidents had been stimulated for several reasons; supporting specific sport teams, ethnic scripts on banknotes, oriental languages in schools, public holidays among other reasons. The frequency of these incidents had revealed the fragility of the officially adopted slogan of “Unity in Diversity”. © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

success of this process. As Professor Baccus11 (2008) explicitly states that :"The success of small states, in coping with the economic and social challenges that they are likely to face in the twenty-first century, will, to a large extent, depend on the quality of their human resources." Moreover, If the society in SIDS is well united, believed in "togetherness" rather than "otherness," they will be able to build their resilience together as one nation to face any challenges. Social cohesiveness will play a vital role to ensure social stability and enable social development in the face of the vulnerabilities. In the next section, the focus will be on the contribution of intercultural education in promoting social cohesion in multicultural societies that can be used as a framework in SIDS. The fact that small island states are built on multicultural pillars, they can adopt and infuse intercultural education within their educational field through examples of practical experiences and insights from elsewhere.

2. The emergence of Interculturalism and Intercultural Education In an effort to understand the contribution of Intercultural Education in sustaining social cohesion, the development of interculturalism and intercultural education in multicultural societies will be discussed. In this section, examples of how Intercultural education has been initiated and implemented to the benefits of students, schools and communities will be analyzed. The literature mainly focused on the development of intercultural education primarily in Europe and North America. The European Commission 12 has greatly emphasized the importance of intercultural education in the European Union(EU) countries. In many EU countries like Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal, intercultural education is part of the general school set up, and their curriculum does include provisions for intercultural education One of the evident results of globalization is that many societies have become more diverse and dynamic. Migration for a better employment prospects and a better standard of living has increased drastically. Nowadays cities like London, Stockholm, Toronto, New York and Amsterdam are becoming increasingly diversified. Thus, multicultural societies have become a complex reality. The new changes in these newly diversified societies are far beyond being adequately addressed by proper multicultural policies, and in this new dynamic society tensions and conflicts are inevitable as many cultures faith, value and global forces interacts, to use the wording of Professor Cantle (2012), who has been involved in crafting these policies and he is the author of a series of reports on Britain's ability to deal with its growing diversity. He further believed that the multicultural policies that governments have been applying are no more appropriate to mediate this new era and are not sufficient enough to promote community cohesion. This is reflected very often in the current political and 11

Bacchus, M.K. "The education challenges facing small nation states in the increasingly competitive global economy of the twenty-first century." Comparative Education 44, 2008: 139. 12

Interculturalism represents the direction towards which Europe is moving. In 2008, EU proclaimed â&#x20AC;&#x17E;European year for cross-cultural dialogueâ&#x20AC;&#x; ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

international context. Cantle(2012) has pointed out that many politicians in Europe, for instance, The UK Prime Minister Cameron and the Chancellor of Germany, Angel Merkel have stressed that there is a failure in the practice of multicultural policies in their respective countries. Many western countries have undergone race-related disturbances for example Bradford riots in 2001 in the UK and a series of riots in the suburbs of Paris and other French cities in 2005. The main criticism of multicultural policies is based on the fact that multiculturalism has encouraged the members of different cultures to live separately in parallel communities that have only minimal contact and interaction with one another, generating mutual ignorance and mistrust. Thus, multicultural policies had its limitation. Furthermore in many countries like in the case of Britain and France, multiculturalism has weakened collective identities and shared values and undermined the national identity and loyalty to the state (Cantle,2012). Intercultural theorists proposed interculturalism as a new approach to overcoming these limitations and take the issue of societal cohesion into a higher level. Bouchard (2011) rejected multiculturalism, which was associated with fragmentation of the social cohesion and proposed the choice of Interculturalism as a middle path, as a model of balance and equity.Cantle (2013) further described interculturalism as a broad program of change in which majority and minority communities think of themselves as dynamic and outward looking, sharing a common objective of growing together and overcoming institutional and relational barriers in the process. Intercultural policies within multicultural societies will enable to promote dialogue and exchange between people of different cultures. The fact that diversity tends to lead to segregation and exclusion, interculturalism, as a strategic policy of intervention, will seek to restore social cohesion, trust, and a feeling of belonging (Barrero:2013). An intercultural program like ―community cohesion13‖ has been developed and applied in many cities in Europe to promote trust and understanding in the societies by breaking stereotypes and misconceptions about the ―other‖. The success and impacts of such program have been measured based upon an attitudinal and behavioral change in the participants or the wider local community. Interculturalism is used as a tool to build and strengthen mutual trust and respect between different groups in the society. Eventually, interculturalism is implemented as a reaction against social exclusion and as a primary tool for restoring social cohesion.

2.1 Infusing intercultural competence Another way to promote interculturalism is through education. The implementation of intercultural education in the educational system will equip the young generation with the intercultural competence that is required to participate in the respectful intercultural dialogue. 13

The Council of Europe and the European Union have adopted a range of standards and initiatives in order to combat racism and xenophobia and promote intercultural dialogue. Through the Intercultural Cities programme, they are supporting the emergence of local strategies for diversity management that focus on diversity as an opportunity. Available at:https://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/culture/Cities/ICCstepbystepAugust2012.pdf © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

It has been acknowledged that students have a greater capacity to grasp and appreciate certain ideas about interculturality than adults who are rather quite rigid in welcoming new challenges to their preconceived ideas. Young students have a better ability to be open minded, to experience different cultures, and they are more curious and willing to learn about the others. For that reason, the intercultural education world-widely is focusing on the students and early years of schooling. Intercultural education is of vital importance in ensuring recognition, tolerance and especially understanding cultures. The young students represent the future of any country. In his book on ―International Perspectives on Intercultural Education‖, Cushner14 sheds more lights on the characteristics of Intercultural Education, ―It strives to eliminate prejudice and racism by creating an awareness of the diversity and relative nature of viewpoints and thus a rejection of absolute ethnocentrism; assists people in acquiring the skills needed to interact more efficiently with people different from themselves; and demonstrates that despite the differences that seem to separate people, many similarities do, in fact, exist across groups.‖The substantial literature on intercultural education can be divided into four groups according to Tupas(2014):a)Intellectual and conceptual roadmaps for Interculturalism (Gundara 2000; Cantle 2002; Coulby 2006; Bleszynska 2008); b) Intercultural incorporation into national curricula (Portera,1998,2005; Tratas, 2010; Tupas 2014); c) Practical road maps for the classroom (leRoux,2001; Mushi, 2004; Perry, 2011) d) Intercultural Education and training program (Bennett, 2004; Cusher, 2009; Stephan and Stephan 2013). The provision of the inclusion of the society through education will combat intolerance, hatred, and discrimination. Sondhi(2009) suggests that interculturalism ―implies a different way of reading situations, signs, symbols, and of communicating which we would describe as intercultural literacy.‖ In other words, through intercultural education students will acquire intercultural competence 15 . The acquisition of this competency in a diverse society will become as important as basic numeracy and literacy according to Sondhi(2009). Nowadays worldwide, some governments like Canada, Italy, and even Australia have responded to problems concerning migration, ethnic nationalism and minority rights by favoring laws that recognize the existence of minority groups and their contributions to national development. Such steps are reflected in the national education curricula by integrating intercultural education with the aim of ensuring greater social inclusion. Recently, Australia has included intercultural understanding as a general capability in its national curriculum. 14

Cushner, K. International Perspectives on Intercultural Education. Mahwah: NJ:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2009.P2 15

Intercultural education is part of the Italian Educational systems. In many school, scholastic subjects promote intercultural competences. For examples: In order to overcome ethnocentrism approaches during history teaching, the theme of racism and issues of a pacific living together among people and analyzing the moments of meeting and collision among people and civilization are taught. Teaching Italian, artistic and musical education gives an occasion to reflect upon the relations between European and extra-European cultures. Across the curriculum, through these subjects, intercultural competences like understanding, respect and sharing are being infused among the students from diverse cultural background.Contini and Naturo(2011) © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

The following diagram is reflecting part of the Australian Curriculum model. It focuses on three aspects of intercultural understanding in the scholastic field

Recognising culture and developing respect

Intercultural understanding Reflecting on intercultural experiences and taking responsibility.

Interacting and empathising with others

Table 2: Intercultural understanding in the Australian Curriculum Model The diagram above focuses on three major characteristics of intercultural understanding. The first is to recognize the culture and to develop respect, secondly is to interact with others and finally to reflect on intercultural experiences and taking responsibility. Intercultural Education will enable the development and implementation of inclusive practice in the education system among students from different cultures. Such practices in the Australian curriculum favor the promotion and growth of intercultural competence between local and immigrant student. The inclusion of all students will eventually foster the social fabrics in the long run. That is why it is believed that intercultural education will eventually reduce tension and latent ethnic conflicts. Intercultural education is a dynamic way of learning which developed from the principle that the ‗other‘ should not only be respected but that people from different cultural background should share the same rights. Therefore the educational aim is not only to tolerate the ‗other‘ but also to co-exist in peace, eliminate discrimination, prejudice, inequalities and awareness of other‘s values feeling, belief and attitudes. In intercultural pedagogy, concepts as identity and culture are considered dynamic where the ―otherness‖ is not considered only as a risk but even as a possibility of enrichment as a means even to reflect on values, rules and behavioral standard. Hence intercultural education within a multicultural society intends to foster the social cohesion in the long term. There is a growing concern to adopt intercultural education in the curriculum in order to develop cultural navigational skills and competences in students in order to relate to those who are different to themselves and to see `others` as an opportunity rather than a threat. A cohesive society will depend on a model of education that will deconstruct the barriers between cultures to ensure a sense of belonging to be established. © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

In the context of SIDS, interculturalism will strengthen the existing social fabrics. Multiculturalism in SIDS is well established compared to the western exposure to multiculturalism. In the West, the society is still undergoing change through diversity dynamic because the door of migration is opened whereas, in the majority of SIDS, the society is well established on multicultural pillars with zero or few migration. However in SIDS the potential towards the consolidation of social cohesion through intercultural education have not been exploited. Within the context of sustainable development of small states, intercultural education has a crucial role to play. Education with an intercultural dimension holds a key place in endeavors to foster the social fabrics and to maintain peace. The table below illustrates the effect of intercultural education as an inclusive approach will enhance the social fragility of the society, thus building a strong, resilient community in SIDS. Iintercultural Education as an Inclusive Approach Sustaining Social and Community Cohesion A Strong Resilient Community Balancing the Vulnerability Sustainable Prosperous Peace

Table 4: The potential effect of Intercultural Education in SIDS

Section 3: The possibility of implementing Intercultural Education in SIDS The third section of this paper will be focusing on the position of intercultural education in SIDS educational system while trying to answer these crucial questions; what are the educational priorities in SIDS? What is the possibility of implementing intercultural education in SIDS? Particular attention will be paid to two cases; Mauritius and Solomon Islands. Surveying the literature regarding the SIDS and sustainable developments, one can easily notice a gap in the literature in terms of the role of education in the sustainable development and particularly in SIDS. Crossley and Sprague 16 stating this fact plainly: ―Until recently, very little attention has been placed upon the role that education can play in reaching the goals of global sustainable development in SIDS‖. One possible reason for that SIDS priorities were topped by facing environmental threats and achieving economic objectives, (Sem, 2007). 16

Crossley, M. and Sprague,T. "Education for sustainable development:implications for small island developing states(SIDS)." International Journal of Educational Developemnt, 2013: 90 © 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

Besides it has been noticed that international educational agendas often fail to match up closely with some of SIDS educational priorities. For example, back to the Jomtien era17, the key international priority was access to primary education. However, at that time, many small states were already moving ahead to prioritized their tertiary education needs (Crossley and Holmes 1999). Thus, the global educational agendas are not in many cases portraying the educational needs of SIDS. SIDS would like to move beyond the international agendas. However, they have difficulty to access international funds and support for their educational priorities (Crossley and Sprague:2013). It is crucial that the international agencies and analysts identified the educational priorities in SIDS. Education for sustainable development in SIDS must be in the light of their experiences and needs. UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UN-DESD 2005-2014) which was the most important international benchmark in ESD, did stress the importance of intercultural education in its agenda. However, recent research before even reaching the end of the UN-DESD (Crossley and Sprague:2013) has argued that in general, the educational priorities in SIDS have not been put into practice. The international community recognizes the exceptional vulnerabilities island societies face, but it has failed to translate this recognition into island-specific support. The vulnerability of SIDS to external factors is not disregarded, but the modest element, more specifically by sustaining their social cohesion through intercultural education that would help them become more resilient are not being made available to these islands.

3.1 Can social cohesion be fostered in SIDS through Intercultural Education? The rigid educational system in SIDS does not address sufficiently the cultural diversity that is present in the schools. The educational system in most of the SIDS is more oriented towards competitions. In the small interethnic state like Mauritius, their system of education fails to develop a sense of cohesiveness and a truly multicultural society. In every school, the diverse communities are reflected through the students. The government policy to promote multiculturalism is to offer ‗oriental languages‘ to the students coming from different ethnic groups. In both primary and secondary schools, students can choose one of the following oriental languages: Arabic, Hindi, Mandarin, Marathi, Tamil, Telegu, and Urdu. The student‘s choice of the oriental language will be largely influenced by his or her ethnicity (Moorghen and Domingue,1982). However, schooling has not contributed to strengthen the social cohesion by inculcating students with a certain degree of nationalism as well as understanding and appreciation of the diversified community. The educational system in Mauritius succeeded in bringing students from diverse backgrounds in the same classroom, but it didn't achieve similar level of success in constructing new curriculum, syllabi, and teaching in order to make

In 1990, it was agreed at the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand (5-9 March 1990) to make primary education accessible to all children and to massively reduce illiteracy before the end of the decade

interculturalism real. Bunwaree 18 believed that the Mauritian educational system ― accepts people from diverse backgrounds on the same premises; it gives them a chance to rub shoulders but it has a long way to go in teacher training, devising new curricula and syllabi and most important of all in bridging the gap between intent and reality in order to make interculturality real‖. Consequently, the education system is producing new generations of Mauritian, who are foreigners with their borders. Mauritius has the scope to promote interculturality but to do so it requires a new educational policy, which promotes and develops intercultural competence across the curriculum. The education system in Mauritius has been adapting the relativistic approach also known as multicultural education; that is primarily based on promoting neutrality, tolerance and accepting the various elements of the multicultural society. Asgarally19(2005) believed that the Mauritian educational system cannot content itself with multicultural education because it is the breeding ground for ethnicism. He further explained that the risk of multicultural education is to favor a society with an essentially ethnic-centered one. However, the Mauritian government has started several initiatives and measures to promote intercultural education at the scholastic level, in line with the objectives laid down by the UNDESD. These efforts are addressing three spheres; educational institutions, teachers training, and the national curriculum. Examining the effectiveness of the efforts in these three spheres is essential in achieving progressive steps toward building sustainable social cohesion in the small island state of Mauritius. Notwithstanding governmental policies to implement intercultural education, the situation in the field may be different. The potentials of intercultural education have not been exploited fully in the educational system. It is still at an initial stage. Further research is required to examine the shift in the students‘ intercultural understanding and sensitivity after an in-depth implementation of the new measures pertaining to intercultural education. Intercultural education can contribute to promote further active participation in the classroom among the diverse students that will propagate to active citizenship in the local and global community in the future. The Mauritian educational system has already paved the way to multiculturalism by accepting students from diverse background and by supporting the spread of each ethnic group language affiliation. By adopting the intercultural approach in their education system, it can contribute to foster their social cohesion further. Thus building a strong, resilient society as a small state. Compare to Mauritius, Solomon Islands, a former British protectorate in the Pacific, is struggling to recover from a five years civil conflicts(1999-2003) that have brought it to the verge of collapse. The post-election riots in April 2006 further affected the social stability on the island and peace remains elusive. 18

Bunwaree, S. "Economics, Conflicts and Interculturality in a Small Island State: The case of Mauritius." Polis/R.C.S.P.?C.P.S.R. Vol.9,Numero Special, 2002: 15. 19

Besides the island is facing serious economic and environmental problems. According to the World Bank 20 , the Solomon Islands is one of the poorest countries in the Pacific. This small states is facing a successive economic crisis like global food, fuel, and financial crisis. The environment21 has deteriorated drastically for example most of the coral reefs surrounding the islands are dead or dying. Besides in the Solomon Islands the major conflicts between the ethnic groups have created social instabilities. The economic, environmental and social vulnerabilities have weakened the prosperity and stability of this small island. There is an urgent need to build the resilience; to reconstruct this multicultural society to stand up as one force against the vulnerabilities. Education can take the number one position in the battle against the vulnerabilities in this small state. In the multiethnic of Solomon Islands, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development has put forward policies and planning related to peacebuilding and social cohesion. According to a recent report22 ―Solomon Islands Case Study in education, conflict, and social cohesion‖ before the conflicts, a mostly western-curriculum predominated; which didn‘t inculcate a sense of cohesiveness but instead contributed to create friction between traditional and non-traditional systems and structures. The major obstacles of the western-curriculum are that it didn't take into consideration the enormous diversity of the island; each tribe or clan has his languages, traditional or religious beliefs, laws, and culture. Another major problem is the limited access to relevant quality education across all levels and in particular for secondary school-aged children have led to a largely uneducated and unskilled youth population. Over the last decade, there have been significant gains in education provision, including an increase in primary school enrolment from 60 per cent to 90 per cent of children and an expansion from 27 to over 200 secondary schools. It shows the government willingness to provide access to education. According to the report, many young people in the Solomon Islands have the motivation and willingness to engage positively in society, but limited education and skills have led to a lack of opportunities to enhance the social cohesion. While government policies, frameworks, and strategic plans have been elaborated to promote social cohesion interventions, these have not been incorporated or linked explicitly to ministries and department. In other words, the implementation of policy and planning of peacebuilding and social cohesion at school level is limited. However, many NGOs have initiated short-term projects to enhance the social cohesion in the educational systems, but there is little evidence of long-term strategic approaches. The report23 pointed out the following: ―The potential to support real social cohesion interventions that empower people and create opportunities to heal past conflicts and open doors for economic and social reform are present, but a concerted effort by the government, parties and communities is needed to work across sectors in a 20

Available at: http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/pacificislands/overview Available at: http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Solomon-IslandsENVIRONMENT.html 22 Solomon Islands case study in education, conflict and social cohesion was commissioned as part of UNICEF East Asia and pacific Regional office‟s (EAPRO) contribution towards the 4 year global „Peacebuilding, education and Advocacy (PBEA) Programme‟(2012-2015) 23 Ibid.,85 21

coordinated and transparent way to achieve these goalsâ&#x20AC;&#x2013;. One of the recommendations of the report is that the educational system should expand access to quality secondary education, and promote quality, relevant education that embraces social cohesion approaches.The past ethnic conflicts have created immense friction in the society. The diversified Islanders in Solomon face barriers between each tribe. There must be a significant push towards a new approach in their educational system to breach such obstacles. Intercultural education can be implemented to promote understanding and respect between the different ethnic groups. The infusion of intercultural competence can heal past conflicts and bring a sense of understanding, cooperation and respect for in the new generation. The distance between the ethnic groups can be improved, in the long run, thus sustaining social cohesion. A cohesive society in Solomon Islands will strengthen their resilience. The Solomon Islanders will have to understand and cooperate with each others to face their vulnerabilities, for examples to stop the alarming rate of destruction of their forests and marine life or rebuild their economy. Social cohesion is crucial for the survival of the Solomon Islanders. The two cases of Mauritius and Solomon Islands are reflecting the fragility of social cohesion in most of the SIDS. There is a pressing need to implement intercultural education in SIDS. The small island states need to move ahead towards an intercultural approach in their educational system. The different cultural and ethnic groups through their intercultural competence will manage to live together peacefully and build their resilience when facing their vulnerabilities.

Conclusion Complex reality of the world today presents diverse and an interrelated portfolio of challenges for all the countries around the world; challenges that include social, economic, ecological, political and cultural dimensions. While recognizing that all countries are facing these challenges with a different level of vulnerabilities, nevertheless SIDS has peculiar situation that amplifies their economic, environmental and social vulnerabilities in the face of these challenges. One of the crucial issues to override these vulnerabilities is the building a longterm societal cohesion in the society. And one of the best ways to do that is through the educational system. The case of SIDS demonstrates that, while acknowledging the economic and environmental vulnerabilities of SIDS are of fundamental importance, reaffirming the centrality of constructing social cohesion is of vital importance. Intercultural Education is a powerful tool for building resilience policy option that could enable these small states to minimize or withstand the negative magnifying effects of social instability on any of their three vulnerabilities. The paper highlighted the main three vulnerabilities that are facing the small island developing states, identified the importance of intercultural education in ÂŠ 2015 The authors and IJLTER.ORG. All rights reserved.

general and in SIDS case in particular and presented the potential and challenges of intercultural education in building social cohesion through two brief cases of Mauritius and Solomon Islands. These cases demonstrated several lessons that can be useful in the formulation of future educational strategies for intercultural education that can be implemented in SIDS to achieve sustainable societal peace. Social cohesion can be promoted if in the education system the conditions for the development of intercultural competence is created. Relations experienced in school through intercultural education can contribute significantly to cohesion in culturally heterogeneous societies. Education alone cannot achieve social cohesion. Instead, this research paper have stressed on the role that education can play to strengthen the social fabrics in SIDS.

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