Search Results

AbstractThis article presents a comparison of the effects of pedagogical strategies using mental imagery combined with physical practice, specific physical practice, and variable physical practice on learning a discrete motor task by children aged 8 to 10. The experimental task consisted of using the non-dominant hand to push a miniature car a specified distance in a specified time. The results show that performances of participants in the different pedagogical strategies varied in relation to several factors including the dependant variable, the movement parameter, the participants' sex, etc. These results are discussed in light of Piaget's theories.

AbstractThis research aims to explain the change and continuity in the economic development strategies during the First Republic (1980-1988) in Iran. The application of a new strategy represents an important transformation in the strategy of economic development after the Islamic revolution in 1979. During the First Republic, the strategy of “Islamic Socialism” was applied by the new Islamic State. Our main question is : What are the determining factors of continuity and change in Iran's development strategies ? According to our theoretical approach, the new development strategies are explained by the changes and transformations in the political institutions, particularly the State. Based on the neo-institutionalist approach, we present the following explanatory model : the particular configuration and interaction of four factors explain the choice and change in economic development strategies in Iran : the State, the civil society, the world system, and ideas.

As part of a learning innovation project initiated by the New Brunswick Ministry of Education, we created and tested four algebra teaching-learning scenarios at the grade 12 level, which touched particularly on the concept of function parameters introduced using a Predict-Observe-Explain strategy and dynamic software a problem solving context. This development-type exploratory research adopts a design approach for an educational product, or the creation of specific learning activities (Loiselle, 2001). Qualitative data were collected from students through a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews.On one hand, the real-life context and the visual aspect of a dynamic and interactive investigation using software seems to have made the learning of functions more significant for the student, and provided a chance to see connections between different mathematical representations, making the students more independent in the problem solving process. On the other hand, this change in practice may have led to a breakdown in the didactic contract, which destabilized some of the students, who were looking for more clarification and supervision from the teacher. This innovative practice of complexifying the problem-solving process deserves further study to determine its real impact on student learning and classroom dynamics.

Western writers and thinkers can be divided into two categories : those who are hedgehogs and emphasize one central vision and unity of the world, and those who are foxes who emphasize diversity, separateness and uniqueness. My argument in this article is that much of the debate about the proper place of strategic studies in the larger field of international relations stems from this major distinction. The strategists tend to be hedgehogs who take one paradigm, one set of applications and one set of political commitments and make a great deal out of it. I will argue that there is also merit to understanding that there are foxes as well, who would place the central vision of the strategists in a larger context of other truths, other applications, and broader commitments.

For twenty years, the European Union has qualified as a supranational actor more and more present on the educational scene. Through the European strategies - Lisbon 2010 and Europe 2020 - but also the open method of coordination, an essential mutation has been occurring at the level of Member States. In this article, I intend to analyse in which manner the European Union manages to become a genuine educational actor. Thematic analysis of forty semi-structured interviews conducted with European and international officials demonstrate that the European leaders prepared the European “suitcase” for the first “flight” of 2010 and the second one in 2020. Mainly, this briefcase regroups benchmarks, core competencies, mobility programs and the European qualifications framework. If the European Union is able to “boast” with a national or international political visibility through educational proposals however, an unknown factor remains in this geopolitical equation.

Keywords: Union européenne, méthode ouverte de coordination, stratégie de Lisbonne, stratégie Europe 2020, benchmarks, acquis communautaire, European Union, open method of coordination, Lisbon Strategy, Strategy Europe 2020, benchmarks, acquis communautaire

This study provides some insights into the situation of disabled people in Yemen in the context of poverty and under resources. The study highlights the need for a comprehensive participatory strategy on disability to protect and promote the rights of disabled people. It is argued that the participatory research approach used in this study may facilitate the development of a sense of partnership between participating stakeholders serving as vehicle for the empowerment of disabled people and their organizations. Equally, such research may serve as a model for the development of a future participatory strategy on disability. The high political commitment of government towards disability in Yemen has greatly raised the profile of disabled people issues on public agenda. However, discussions with disabled people and their families in four governorates including the capital Sana’a showed that disabled people continue to experience discrimination in accessing services and resources including community support. The physical and institutional barriers continue to exclude disabled people from receiving services and perpetuate their passivity. Overall, support for the disability sector remains limited due to lack of a strategy on disability as well as poor coordination mechanisms. There are two major obstacles among others hindering the development of disability sector in Yemen identified within the course of this research. They are: the lack of accurate disability information necessary for planning, and the widespread poverty (ineffective poverty strategy). A poverty reduction strategy should take note of building human capacity to use scarce resources in the community (i.e. the use of community based rehabilitation approach) and not only building economic capacity, although the latter is particularly important in the context of the developing world. An effective poverty reduction strategy goes hand in hand with friendly safety nets measures and a national comprehensive strategy on disability so that the needs of disabled people are properly addressed and consequently, their rights are upheld.

Keywords: incapacité, pauvreté, accès aux services, droits humains, disability, poverty, access to services, human rights