654 research outputs found
Making sense of health education in the Solomon Islands.
No full textThis article explores both the process and outcomes of a working Partnership between Solomon Islands College for Higher Education and the University of Waikato that explored the development of the initial teacher education health education courses. Through a process of co-construction and inquiry, teacher educators from the Solomon Islands and New Zealand developed a metaphorical context-specific model to represent understandings of health education in the Solomon Islands. The model and what this has meant for teaching and learning in health education at both SOE and in schools is examined
Funds of knowledge: Developing a Diploma in Teaching in Early Childhood Education in the Solomon Islands.
No full textThis article discusses how three early childhood teacher educators, from the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education School of Education and the University of Waikato Faculty of Education, worked in partnership together and with others to develop a new Diploma in Teaching Early Childhood Education (ECE) for the Solomon Islands. We argue that the knowledge and understandings that we shared about New Zealand early childhood education and its bicultural curriculum Te Whāriki made our task easier from the outset. So too did our shared "funds of knowledge" and expertise, particularly the Solomon Islands women's indigenous knowledge and abilities to reflect on teaching and learning in their nation and New Zealand, two contexts they understood well. As we worked through a range of issues related to the development and delivery of courses, the primacy of relationships and historical, cultural and social contexts for learning were reinforced. Broad understandings of relevant education pedagogy for adults and young children were incorporated through the diploma development process. The result was a new Diploma in Teaching Early Childhood Education and new ways of teaching and learning embedded in Solomon Islands contexts, blending the best of local and imported knowledge. This article adds to a small body of literature related to ECE in the Solomon Islands and the Pacific region
The Concept of Development in Ulawa in Solomon Islands and its Implications for National Development Policy and Planning
No full text'Social development' and 'economic development' are complex concepts, concepts that may be interpreted very differently in different contexts and at different times. Not only may the processes involved be different in different contexts, so too may be the criteria by which success is judged. It is argued here that successive Solomon Islands governments have striven for social and economic development without taking full account of the real nature of Solomon Islands society. What is needed is national development policy, planning and implementation that arise out of, and take fully into account, the historical, geographic and cultural context of Solomon Islands.
On the whole, the socio-economic structure of Solomon Islands society is currently underpinned by a tri-partite hierarchy in which, for the majority of Solomon Islanders, kastom (traditional beliefs and practices) and church (the beliefs and practices endorsed by the church) take precedence over the state as legitimate forms of authority. This inevitably poses problems for state-led development. If socio-economic development activities are to be successful in achieving a better quality of life for all Solomon Islanders, including those who live in rural areas, they must take full account of the role of kastom and church in the lives of the people. This must include an understanding of the differing concepts of development of people in different areas of the country such as those of Ulawa islanders that are discussed here.
The thesis begins with an introduction to the research (Chapter 1) in which the theoretical framework is located broadly within the postmodern paradigm. In Chapter 2 the essentially qualitative and interpretive nature of the methodology is outlined and explained. Chapter 3 provides a critical review of international development literature in which it is argued that official definitions and descriptions of development are based on production and deficit models. The need to accommodate an indigenous and organic concept of development, one that takes account of the diversity of human experience, is stressed. Chapter 4 provides an outline of Solomon Islands society. Here, the historical narrative is complemented by three metaphors - 'island', wantok and betelnut - which serve to reinforce and explain the nature of Solomon Islands society and the ways in which that society has been shaped by historical processes. Chapter 5 is devoted to a discussion of modern development activity in Solomon Islands, the main focus being on the period immediately preceding and following independence. Chapter 6 explores, with particular reference to Ulawa Island, indigenous concepts of development and the impact of national development activities on rural-dwelling islanders. It also engages the issue of state reform, proposing a model based on a two tier system, with central government in its current form dealing directly with the people at constituency rather than provincial level. Finally, Chapter 7 summarizes the main conclusions reached. It is noted that the failure of both pre- and post-independence governments to take full account of the nature of Solomon Islands society has been a major factor in the lack of effective development in the islands
Trends and challenges for sustainable marine resource management for rural Solomon Islanders
No full textMuch has been claimed about the positive benefits of the customary marine tenure (CMT) system in the South Pacific and its implications for resource management. In Solomon Islands the premise of effective community-based resource management (CBRM) as a contemporary management tool, rests to a great degree on CMT, but does CMT still provide a sufficiently strong foundation to support this premise?
This research examines the social and environmental characteristics of two rural Solomon Islands coastal communities that have a long history in customary marine tenure; one with a strong chiefly system and the other one with a weaker chiefly system. The research gains insight into and an understanding of the experiences and lives of the villagers, given current debates on the need to address and move forward with the concept of CBRM with regards to the sustainability issues that they are currently confronting.
Using primarily qualitative methodologies the study focused on how marine resources are perceived and valued by different members of the community. The findings suggest that in communities where a common agreement on CMT no longer exists there is a significant challenge to stakeholders in attaining the goal of sustainably managed coastal marine resources through community based approaches. This challenge needs to be accounted for on a case by case basis as part of CBRM facilitation processes.
While this research may true for much of Solomon Islands, the case studies have revealed that although the villages are made up of families who are closely related they are not unified as a whole. Study findings suggest that the people retain a lingering vision of a small, integrated community but have failed to grasp how their differences as a community have affected their resource management outcomes.
The present day communities are affected by many outside factors that did not exist when traditional management systems were evolving. These factors bring management challenges for which traditional arrangements were not designed to cope and thus many have severely destabilising effects on the performance of traditional systems
The Perceptions of Beginning Secondary Teachers about their Professional Learning Experiences in the Solomon Islands Context
No full textThis thesis was designed to investigate the professional learning experiences of beginning secondary teachers (BSTs) in the Solomon Islands context. The study sought to interpret and document the lived experiences of a cohort of BSTs who graduated from the Diploma in Secondary Teaching programme at the School of Education, Solomon Islands College of Higher Education (SOE-SICHE) in 2007. The focus of the study was on the sense of preparedness of the BSTs at the end of their initial teacher education, and their induction and professional learning experiences during the first two years of their teaching careers. The aim of the study was to find out how prepared the secondary teacher graduates from SOE-SICHE felt at the end of their teacher education programmes, the kind of professional support they needed as beginning teachers, and whether Solomon Islands secondary schools have adequate professional support systems in place to promote early career learning and development for beginning teachers. It is anticipated that the findings of this study will add to the body of knowledge in the field of teacher learning and professional development experiences of beginning teachers from a Pacific Island, Melanesian, socio-cultural context. Existing studies on teacher learning and development have been conducted mainly in economically developed western countries, which are significantly different from a developing Pacific Island nation such as the Solomon Islands. This study is the first of its kind to be conducted in the Solomon Islands. There is growing recognition in the literature that teacher learning and professional development should be linked to learning experiences that match teachers’ socio-cultural contexts (Flores, 2004). Proponents of such a view contend that learners assimilate new information better when their learning experiences are based on the integration of what they already know and the new phenomena and ideas with which they come in contact (Bruner, 1996; Vygotsky, 1978b; Wertsch, 1997). Hence, there is a need for education systems to provide effective learning opportunities and professional support for teachers that are relevant to the teaching and learning contexts in which they are going to find themselves during their teaching careers (Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005). It is also important to note that initial teacher education (ITE) programmes cannot fully prepare beginning teachers for their teaching roles. Rather, teachers should be viewed as learners who need ongoing professional support throughout their teaching careers (Loughran, 2007; Murdoch, 1979). Two phases of teacher professional learning that are considered to have significant impact on teachers’ practice and retention in the profession are induction and continuing teacher professional development (Feiman-Nemser, 2001a). Therefore, it is vitally important that pedagogies used during these phases are not only well supported and resourced by school systems but also appropriate to teachers’ socio-cultural contexts (Anthony, Bell, Haigh, & Kane, 2007a). There is ample research evidence to suggest that ITE does have an impact on the quality of teaching in the classroom and students’ learning achievements (Cochran-Smith, 2003). This research took an interpretive qualitative case study research approach, drawing on social constructivism and socio-cultural theoretical perspectives to make meaning of the professional learning experiences of beginning secondary teachers in the Solomon Islands context. The experiences of the 11 BSTs who participated in this study informed the collective case of BSTs’ experiences in Solomon Islands secondary schools. The study explored the experiences of the BSTs in the five secondary schools where they were posted, in light of the personal and contextual factors that might have influenced their perceptions about their initial teacher education, induction, and professional learning experiences. The primary sources of data were a questionnaire and three in-depth semi-structured interviews, each of which lasted 50 to 60 minutes. The data analysis process was based on the interpretive qualitative research methodology adopted in the study. Content analysis techniques were used to identify emerging themes, and interpretive phenomenological analysis techniques were then used to interpret and make meaning of the relationships within and between the key themes that emerged. This study highlighted the BSTs’ perceptions of their sense of preparedness and professional learning experiences from initial teacher education through to their second year of teaching. The findings of the study suggest that the BSTs felt inadequately prepared in some aspects of their teaching roles, and needed guidance and support from their school communities. The lack of formal induction and planned professional development opportunities for beginning teachers in the five secondary schools that were involved in this study meant that they were deprived of the kind of advice and guidance needed by new teacher graduates at the beginning of their teaching careers. The findings also suggested that beginning teachers had little opportunity to observe, reflect, and learn from their teaching practices because they were assigned the same teaching load as their experienced colleagues from day one. The BSTs also taught under difficult conditions, given the general lack of teaching resources, crowded classrooms, and lack of specialised classroom facilities and equipment for subjects such as science, home economics, industrial arts, and agriculture. Information and clear guidelines on school processes and procedures were also lacking, including advice about new teacher registration processes and procedures. Such teaching conditions were a major source of anxiety for the BSTs during the first two years of their teaching careers. The study raises questions about how well secondary teachers are prepared and supported as beginning teachers during their early years of teaching in the Solomon Islands context. It also raises questions about the quality of leadership, school cultures, expectations of individual beginning teachers, the nature of teachers’ work, government and societal expectations, and government support for quality teaching and learning in Solomon Islands secondary schools. It is anticipated that the findings of this study will help improve initial teacher education and teacher professional development practices in the Solomon Islands. This thesis argues that there is a need to develop secondary schools as professional learning communities, or ‘villages of learning’ that promotes and encourages reflective dialogue, ongoing professional conversations, and collaboration between education authorities, school principals and teachers, to enhance teachers teaching practices, and promote students’ learning outcomes
Summative Assessment Practices of Solomon Islands Year Nine Science Teachers
No full textThe aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the perceptions, experiences, and practices of six Solomon Islands secondary science teachers, based on the types of assessment they use in their science classrooms to serve a summative purpose. The study was divided into two parts. The first part involved a baseline study which explored the teachers’ existing summative assessment practices with the intent to understand how their views and knowledge of the summative assessments influenced their practices, and to identify their professional learning needs in creating assessment tools. The second part of the study involved a small-scale professional development intervention, which aimed to enhance the science teachers’ skills and confidence in summative assessment as well as to identify the factors that influenced teachers’ development and transfer of new assessment skills to their classroom practices in the Solomon Islands context.
The study adopted a qualitative-interpretive research approach and used methods of teacher interviews, participant observation and documentary analysis to generate data related to the teachers’ existing summative assessment practices, and the new or revised processes that they adopted as a result of the professional development intervention. Various analytical procedures including thematic analysis procedures and frameworks that researchers have used previously to study teachers’ classroom practices were employed to analyse the collected data.
The findings of the baseline study indicated that the science teachers employed summative assessments to compare students’ ability through grading and reported their students’ achievements to parents and students. The unit test is the dominant form of assessment used by teachers to assess year nine students’ learning, performance and achievements in science. Examinations are administered to students at the end of each school term. An analysis of the test and examination questions indicated that teachers focused on assessing mainly low cognitive skills. Teachers’ views indicated that neither they nor the school leaders have used student achievement results in the past or present time as a basis to review and evaluate their teaching practices or plan ways they might improve student achievement and school performance.
The science teachers generally expressed varying levels of satisfaction in their conduct of assessment activities but also perceived the need for professional support in certain areas of assessment such as construction of a test using a test blueprint, grading, analysis and interpretation of student assessment results. The study also identified a range of factors that influenced the six science teachers’ classroom-based summative assessment practices. Factors that tend to have impacted positively on their summative assessment practices include; their initial teacher education experiences, knowledge and beliefs about teaching, learning and assessment, and colleagues in the school. However, the teachers also reported certain contextual factors that impacted negatively on their assessment practices. These included institutional and extracurricular responsibilities, heavy teaching loads, large class size, lack of clear assessment policy guidelines, lack of exemplary assessment resources, and national examination pressures.
Findings of the impact of professional development intervention indicated that the teachers made small to moderate changes in their summative assessment practice. Their involvement in the group activities during the professional development workshop made them become more reflective on their assessment practices and also indicated that the professional development activities enhanced their knowledge about alternative assessment strategies, and increased their confidence in carrying out summative assessments in class. However, the existing contextual factors that were identified during the baseline study continued to impede their transfer of new assessment ideas and procedures into their classroom practices
The significance of parallels between the 'Testament of Solomon' and Jewish literature of late antiquity (between the closing centuries BCE and the Talmudic era) and the New Testament
No full textThe TSol is a Christian composition of late antiquity which narrates the story
about how King Solomon built the Temple of God with the aid of demons he
subjugated. Comparative analysis between the TSol and Jewish literature of late
antiquity (between the closing centuries BCE and the Talmudic era), and the
New Testament is primarily to establish any literary dependence and explore the
nature of contact between the TSol and these materials; and also to isolate
Jewish elements in the TSol. The Jewish materials discussed are the Hebrew
Bible, the LXX, Tobit, Wisdom of Solomon, Pseudo-Philo, certain Qumran
documents (11 PsApa and the Copper scroll), Josephus' Jewish Antiquities,
Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Song of Songs, rabbinic literature, and certain Aramaic
incantation texts. My research has shown that parallels do exist between the
TSol, the Jewish literature discussed and the New Testament. The parallels
between the TSol and the aforementioned literature are twofold: verbal and
conceptual. Verbal parallels occur in the form of technical terminology;
quotations, allusions and echoes. The second type of parallels appears in the
form of motifs, themes, structural elements and ideas. These parallels seem to
dominate in my analysis. There is no need to explain the parallels between the
TSol and the literature discussed in terms of literary dependence. I have
attempted to demonstrate that these parallels in most of the literature are
indicative of indirect influence through shared use of the biblical tradition: motifs,
stories and themes regarding King Solomon; a common fund of oral tradition(s)
regarding Solomon's magical power over demonic world; shared literary
language, milieu, and cultural conventions. Moreover, the author of the TSol
seems to have recycled Jewish materials pertaining to Solomon and related
motifs in his work. Apart from the New Testament, the best case for a direct
influence of a Jewish work on the TSol is Tobit
Exploring the role that language plays in solving mathematical word problems for the Solomon Islands secondary school students
No full textMathematics is described as language. There is a strong link between mathematics and English language. This study is concerned with the role of language factors and proficiency of students in comprehension and solving of word problems in the Solomon Islands. In particular, it explores the impact of language on the comprehension and solving of word problems for year eight students in three secondary schools in Honiara. Research data was gathered using mixed-method approach of data collection. The data collection happened in two phases. Firstly language and mathematical assessment portfolios were put together for 45 participants. Secondly, a semi-structured recall interview was conducted on eight participants chosen from the 45. The data gathering was conducted in the Solomon Islands in September 2009. There are interesting findings revealed in this research. In the language and mathematics baseline assessment portfolios, the scatter diagram showed no strong correlation between vocabulary knowledge and word problem solving. However, evidence from the word problems exercise and semi-structured recall interview elicited vocabulary and syntactical features as the main factors causing difficulties in word problems solving for the secondary school of the Solomon Islands students. Context and conceptual understanding played a role in facilitating the understanding of word problems. Some students demonstrated abilities contributing to their achievement in mathematics and language. However, further studies need to be done in relation to this area as it is very important and has implications for pedagogy, curriculum and learning improvement for teachers and students
On the Article about Salomon or Solomon
No full textAutor raspravlja o valjanosti oblika Salomon i pridjevnoj izvedenici koja se pojavlju u zemljopisnim nazivima (Salomonsko otočje, Salomonsko more), imenu države (Salomonsko Otočje), u frazemima (salomonsko rješenje, salomonska odluka) i biljnom nazivlju (salomonov pečat).The author discusses the correctness of the form Salomon and analyzes its adjectival derivations in geographical terms (Salomonsko otočje = Solomon Islands, Salomonsko more = Solomon Sea), in the name of a state (Salomonsko Otočje = the Solomon Islands), in phrases (salomonsko rješenje = Solomonic solution, salomonska odluka = Solomonic decision) and in some plant names (salomonov pečat = Solomon's seal / sigillum Solomonis)
DNA Data Storage using Hamming and Reed-Solomon Codes: DNA Data Opslag met Hamming en Reed-Solomon Codes
No full textNowadays, enormous amounts of data are produced on a daily basis. Whether it is a cute familypicture, a funny cat video, or a scientic paper, all of the data is stored. The challenge in datastorage nowadays is about nding a way to store a lot of data, in such a way that it will staypreserved for many years without too much maintenance and such that if errors occur, the datacan still be retrieved. DNA is a great choice for this, since the DNA from extinct species thatlived 10,000 years ago can still be retrieved, it does not need maintenance and it is estimated thatit can store 5 PB per gram [2]. However, in reading and writing DNA, substitution, insertionand deletion errors occur, so the data needs to be protected against these errors. Therefore,several coding methods have already been invented and researched. Takahasi et al. [1] designeda full automated system for writing, storing and reading data, which consisted only of the wordhello, using DNA.This thesis focuses on the coding method used by [1], namely a Hamming code, and comparesit to the implementation of a DNA based Reed-Solomon code, applied to the same data. Ananalysis is made based on the net information density, GC-weight, homopolymer runs andthe error detection and correction properties. As expected, there is a trade-o between thenet information density and the error detection and correction properties. Although the netinformation density of the Reed-Solomon code is lower, it can correct more errors and it has thepotential of also being applied to a bigger data set.Applied Mathematic
- …
