32 research outputs found
Global teachers: The long-term effects of an international practicum
No full textThis paper present finding from an international practicum programme for Norwegian student teachers in Namibia. Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences offers three months international practicum programme in Namibia. The aim of the programme is to expose the students to diversity, develop their global and intercultural competence and to prepare them for teaching in multicultural classrooms in Norway. This paper is the last in a series of publications from a trailing research project following student teachers that had a 3 months international practicum in the global south (Wikan and Klein, 2017, Klein and Wikan 2019). In this paper, we examine the long-term impact of the experience. Based on a qualitative study with open-ended questions mailed to 18 former students we discuss the perceived impact of their experiences both personally and professionally, with a focus on the global teacher aspect. The main finding is that the international practicum has had a significant impact on both personal growth and professional development. They report that they feel competent to teach in a multicultural classroom, teach global issues, have broaden their worldview and global knowledge and have become more critical towards international news due to their own three months experience in Namibia. In conclusion, they have developed a cultural sensitivity and global perspective in their role as a teacher
Intervention in international practicum in the Global South
No full textTeacher education programmes need to be more internationally oriented, according to
national education policy in Norway. Moreover, all teacher education institutions
must develop a strategy to meet this aim. International practicum, which sends
student teachers for practicum abroad, has become popular. The aim is to enhance
students’ intercultural competence. Until recently, it was commonly believed that
immersing student teachers in an unfamiliar culture would develop students’
intercultural competence. Our research findings are in accordance with those of many
other studies: immersing students in another culture does not automatically mean that
they become interculturally competent: Some of the students in our study have learned
to appreciate the difference between cultures and have opened up their minds and
increased their acceptance of differences. However, others have come back home more
certain than ever of the superiority of their own culture. In this paper we discuss to
what extent intercultural competence and global awareness were promoted during an
international practicum programme
Challenges in the primary education in Namibia
No full textEnglish: The aim of this report is to describe the situation in the Namibian school system and discuss school internal and external reasons for school non-participation and poor results. By school non-participation is meant both non-enrolment and drop-out
Cash, crops and cattle. A study of rural livelihoods in Botswana
No full textLack of economic development has lead to a growing scepticism to grand economic
development theories and strategies. The focus has shifted towards a more open-ended
perspective where the local context and poverty alleviation are in focus. As a result,
the new key concepts in the discourse are livelihoods and urban-rural linkages. The
academic interest is focused on the question: how are African households surviving
given their increasing difficult economic circumstances?
In the African context, Botswana is a special case. It is rich; it has a very small and
relatively homogenous population and has had a stable democratic development
throughout the whole independence period. Situated in the land-locked central part of
Southern Africa the peaceful and successful development of Botswana is quite an
achievement. However, Botswana’s economic progress and development has not had
the anticipated spread effects, from the urban to the rural economy, from the privileged
to the poor. Poverty amidst plenty is an often-used slogan to describe the present state
of development in Botswana. The development processes is a differentiation process,
and at the present stage a number of households live in utmost poverty, whereas
Gaborone was given the name Benz City because of the number of Mercedes Benz
around. On this background on wealth and poverty, I will show how different groups
of rural households are making a living; how the poor are managing to stay alive, how
the middle income households are planning for survival and security and how the rich
are making sure they stay rich and continue accumulating wealth. In short, the main
focus of this report is the livelihood strategies of the rural households
Severity of GERD and disease progression
No full textThis is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Diseases of the Esophagus following peer review. The version of record Fuchs, K. H., DeMeester, T. R., Otte, F., Broderick, R. C., Breithaupt, W., Varga, G. & Musial, F. (2021). Severity of GERD and disease progression. Diseases of the Esophagus, ?(?), ?. is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/dote/doab006Background - Many factors may play a role in the severity and progression of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) since pathophysiology is multifactorial. Data regarding the progression of GERD are controversial: some reports of increased esophageal acid exposure (EAE) and mucosal damage were considered as evidence for a stable disease course, while others interprete these findings as disease progression. The aim of this study is to analyze a large patient-population with persisting symptoms indicative of GERD under protonpumpinhibitor-therapy and identify components characterizing disease severity and progression.
Methods - Patients with symptoms indicative of GERD were included in the study in a tertiary referral center (Frankfurt, Germany). All selected patients were under long-term protonpumpinhibitor-therapy with persistant symptoms. All patients underwent investigations to collect data on their physical status, EAE, severity of esophagitis, anatomical changes, and esophageal functional defects as well as their relation to the duration of the disease. Incidence over time was plotted as survival curves and tested with Log-rank tests for the four main disease markers. Multivariate modeling with COX-regression model was used to estimate the general impact of the four main disease markers on the time course of the disease. In order to elucidate possible causal relationships over time, a path analysis (structural equation model) was calculated.
Results - From the database with 1480 data sets, 972 patients were evaluated (542 males, 430 females). The mean age was 50.5 years (range18–89). The mean body mass index was 27.2(19–48). The mean time between the onset of symptoms and the diagnostic investigations was 8.2 years (1–50). A longer disease history for GERD was significantly associated with a higher risk for LES-incompetence. The mean duration from symptom onset to the time of clinical investigation was 9 years for patients with LES-incompetence (n = 563), compared to a mean of 6 years for those with mechanically intact LES (n = 95). A longer period from symptom onset to diagnostics was significantly associated with higher acid exposure. The pathway analysis was significant for the following model: ‘history’ (P P
Conclusion - LES-incompetence, the functional deterioration of the LES, and the anatomical alteration at the esophagogastric junction (Hiatal Hernia) as well as an increased EAE were associated with a long history of suffering from GERD. Path modeling suggests a causal sequence overtime of the main disease-parameters, tentatively allowing for a prediction of the course of the disease
Rural development in Botswana
No full textNorsk: Utviklingen i Botswana de siste 20 årene har vært preget av
høy og stabil økonomisk vekst. Botswana er et land som har oppnådd sin
velstand gjennom råvarebasert vekst i kombinasjon med klokt lederskap, stabile sosiale og politiske forhold og ikke minst en gunstig geopolitisk
beliggenhet. Det er mulig å si at inntekten fra i første rekke diamanter, men
også kveg har blitt bruk til å økte den sosiale velferden til befolkningen.
Helsetilstanden, levealder og skoledeltakelse er på det høyeste nivå vi kan
finne i Afrika. Likevel er det stor fattigdom, økende ulikhet i Botswana og
stigende arbeidsledighet i Botswana. Det er særlig på landsbygda at
fattigdommen er stor. I denne artikkelsamlingen som består av fire artikler
dokumenterer jeg hvordan levekårssitasjoner er på landsbygda i Botswana
i dag sammenlignet med for tyve år siden. Jeg viser også hvilke ulike
levekårsstrategier landsbyghushold anvender for å overleve. Resultatene
som presenteres i artiklene er basert på to feltstudier, en i 1980 en i år
2000.English: Development is a complex process; it often leads to growth at
some places while it at the same time leads to stagnation at another place.
Development can mean prosperity for some groups and poverty for others.
Botswana has had a high economic growth rate the last twenty years – a
growth rate which has lifted the country out of the group of least
developed countries to a middle-income country. An interesting question is
what are the regional and social consequences of this growth? I will not try
to give a comprehensive answer to this question. This collection of papers
is based on a reserach prosject which startetd in 1980 and endend in years
2000. Thus, the conclusion is based upon data collected over a time span of
twenty years. By doing a re-study of the same two rural villages twenty
years after, I will be able to tell how the general development process in
Botswana has manifested itself on rural household standard of living and
their livelihood strategies. In the first article I give a general overwiev of
the development in Botswana the last twenty years. The next two articles
discuss the livelihood situation for the rural households. In the last article I
decribe the complex set of livelihood strategies which rural households
apply in order to make a living.Norges Forskningsråd og Høgskolen i Hedmar
Intervention in international practicum in the Global South
No full textTeacher education programmes need to be more internationally oriented, according to
national education policy in Norway. Moreover, all teacher education institutions
must develop a strategy to meet this aim. International practicum, which sends
student teachers for practicum abroad, has become popular. The aim is to enhance
students’ intercultural competence. Until recently, it was commonly believed that
immersing student teachers in an unfamiliar culture would develop students’
intercultural competence. Our research findings are in accordance with those of many
other studies: immersing students in another culture does not automatically mean that
they become interculturally competent: Some of the students in our study have learned
to appreciate the difference between cultures and have opened up their minds and
increased their acceptance of differences. However, others have come back home more
certain than ever of the superiority of their own culture. In this paper we discuss to
what extent intercultural competence and global awareness were promoted during an
international practicum programme.publishedVersio
Home environmental factors influencing performance and progress of primary school pupils in Windhoek
No full textLow educational outcome is a problem in Namibia. This might be explained as a function of several factors such as socioeconomic background, child input and school internal factors. These factors must all be taken into consideration to explain why children do not fulfil basic education and attain low learning outcomes Without disregard of the numerous school and child internal factors for low school performance, this study focused on the learners socioeconomic background and home language and to what extent these factors may encourage or discourage school progress and performance among learners in Windhoek, Namibia. Our findings support other studies which found that parents’ educational level and income level have a bearing on school progress and performance. Contrary to most research findings mother tongue instruction did not emerge as an important explanatory factor on school progress and performance, however, home language did play a role
Norwegian secondary school teachers and ICT
No full textICT is meant to be integrated in all subjects in Norwegian schools; nevertheless many teachers are reluctant to use ICT in their own teaching. This paper explores to what extent teachers use ICT in their classroom teaching and what teacher-level factors influence the use of ICT. It draws on an analysis of 10 focus-group interviews with 10 teachers and a quantitative study of 59 teachers in three lower secondary schools in Hamar, Norway. The teachers showed commitment to ICT; however, may did not see the educational value, except for increased access to learning material and to stimulate learner motivation. Teachers also expressed lack of ICT confidence even though they have been taking part in ICT courses. A main finding is that to integrate ICT in one's own teaching is a difficult and gradual process and teachers must be given time to find their own way to merge ICT with their own teaching style
Flexible Studies as Strategy for Lifelong Learning
No full textThis is an Open Access-article. Originally published in TOJET. Publisher's website can be found by following this link: http://www.tojet.net/ The article can be found at: www.tojet.net/articles/v15i4/1545.pdfMany countries face a challenge in recruiting teachers. At the same time, the labour market is changing and the demand for re-education is increasing. In this situation, lifelong learning is seen as relevant and higher education institutions are asked to offer flexible and decentralised study programmes in order to accommodate the need for formal education for adults. High dropout rates, partly explained by a diverse student body with little time for study, aggravate the situation. Progress might be influenced by how the study programme is organised. In this quantitative study among 511 student teachers, we examine whether there are differences between students attending differently organised studies. The findings indicate that flexible and campus-based study programmes attract students with different characteristics. In a lifelong learning perspective, it looks to be a promising strategy to offer flexibly organised studies to meet the demands of an increasingly diverse student body
