Universitetet i Agder: UiA Journal System
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A case study of Readers Theatre in a primary Norwegian EFL class
No full textThis article presents research on a case study of the use of Readers Theatre (RT), a group reading aloud activity in which a text is divided into small segments, in a sixth grade English as a Foreign Language (EFL) class in Norway. A mixed ability class of 27 readers, divided into groups of five to six pupils, rehearsed and performed fairy tales adapted for RT. The aims were to find out how the teachers and pupils experienced RT and how it influenced the development of the pupils’ reading, motivation and confidence. Data collection was through two teacher interviews, post-project pupil journals, lesson observations and video recordings of the first rehearsals and performances of three of the groups. Gains were recorded in pupils’ pronunciation, word recognition and fluency, especially among the struggling learners in the class. Gains were also recorded in pupils’ motivation and confidence to read. Both the cognitive and affective gains support research on RT among young learners in first language contexts and add to the sparse research on RT among young foreign language learners
Ludwig Wittgenstein and his Followers
No full textThe paper discusses the work of Wittgenstein, and traces the influences on Scandinavian followers, and in particular Toulmin, Goranzon and Gustavsen. It provides a fresh context for Workplace Innovation and Action Research
Why Industry 4.0 needs Workplace Innovation: a critical look at the German debate on advanced manufacturing
No full textBehind labels in the international debate such as “autonomics” and “advanced manufacturing” hides the attempt to accelerate the digitalisation of production. In Germany, the future of manufacturing is intimately bound up with the vision of Industry 4.0. Despite considerable uncertainties and risks, and despite negative experiences with such technology-centred approaches in the past (e.g. with concepts such as the “fully automated factory” or “Enterprise 2.0”), there is a broad, almost unbroken consensus between social partners and policy-makers. Widespread implementation of this technology-centred vision appears to be necessary and crucial for competitiveness, and without alternatives, so that only the question of its socially acceptable design remains to be answered. Our article aims to show, however, that there are alternatives to a concept based on a one-sided, technology-oriented understanding of innovation. It therefore makes an important difference whether Industry 4.0 or Workplace Innovation stands at the centre of such far-reaching plans for the future
Interdisciplinary teaching as motivation: An initiative for change in post-16 vocational education
No full textA team of researchers in teacher education and teachers in secondary education vocational study programmes decide to plan and try out interdisciplinary teaching schemes combining the subject English with Media studies. This is a two-stage study. Firstly, the research team want to observe whether an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning will have positive effects on students’ motivation and thereby their engagement with learning activities. Questionnaires are applied in addition to the researchers’ participatory observations. Secondly, a longitudinal objective is to investigate whether the experience achieved, has led to any changes in the way teaching and learning activities are organized. Members of the teachers’ team are interviewed. Drawing on the concepts elaborated and restricted codes, and assuming that traditional teaching is disciplinary and tends to favour the academically inclined students, this article argues in favour of altering the code by opening up the conventional disciplinary setting of students’ learning. Thus, the main components of this article are a study of the students’ response to working across the disciplines; second, a discussion of whether the inferences made by the research team during and after the interdisciplinary project have caused any new practices in the facilitation of teaching and learning activities in this school five years later
Patterns of workplace innovation in the Basque Country: Challenges and lessons from Gipuzkoa
No full textThe importance of Workplace Innovation to improve competitiveness and employability strategies in the Basque Country has been a key ingredient of policy discussions in this region. This paper is focused on the analysis of the context and current state of workplace innovation and productivity skills in the province of Gipuzkoa (Basque Country-Spain).The action-research study was conducted in 2015 (different economic sectors and organizations of the area) with the funding and support of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa (Department for Economic Promotion) and the European Social Fund co-financing. The project was included as a specific case study of the workforce and workplace conditions of territorial organisations through the identification of the drivers and barriers of workplace innovation practices in 496 SME’s.The aim of this investigation is to build a new model of economic and social development that looks to understand the diverse and complex workplace environment of an important part of the Basque Country’s work organisations and companies.The evaluation of their practical learning activities, management as intervention, work organization, and worker participation, and their influence in the employment skills of their workers, is a crucial part of this research.This article takes a close look to these organizations, through a detailed analysis of their main changing processes in their workforce skills, their organizational knowledge and their economic and competitive performance
High-performance Work Practices in Europe: Challenges of Diffusion
No full textAlthough the evidence supports the role of high-performance work practices (HPWPs) in underpinning improvements in organisational performance, it is striking that so few companies in Europe seem willing to introduce them. The purpose of this article is to examine the barriers to the dissemination of HPWPs, and especially the challenges and dilemmas it presents to policy makers at the design stage. The article is based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with the principal officials responsible for seven HPWP programmes across six European countries, as well as on extensive secondary material. The interviews were analysed to identify key issues of concern, and then grouped to provide general insights into the operation of HPWP programmes. The article identifies a number of challenges common to all the programmes that need resolution, including tensions between research and dissemination, whether programmes should aim at breadth or depth, and the role of the social partners. It accordingly advocates a new research agenda that focuses on policies to achieve their wider diffusion, which will be of particular value to policy-makers. It also proposes that research should be directed away from replicating studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of HPWPs and towards analyses of constraints on dissemination and the means to overcome them
