Search results for: family literacy education

Authors: Paul Flynn, Luke O’Donnell

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There is a pressing societal need for educators in formal and non-formal settings to develop pedagogical frameworks, programmes, and interventions that support the development of transversal skills for life beyond the classroom. These skills include communication, collaboration, interpersonal relationship building, problem-solving, and planning, and organizational skills; or lifeworld literacies encountered first hand. This is particularly true for young people aged between 15-18. This demographic represents both the future of society and those best positioned to take advantage of well-designed, structured educational supports within and across formal and non-formal settings. Secondary school history has been identified as an appropriate area of study which deftly develops many of those transversal skills so crucial to positive societal engagement. However, in the formal context, students often challenge history’s relevance to their own lived experience and dismiss it as a study option. In response to such challenges, teachers will often design stimulating lessons which are often well-received. That said, some students continue to question modern-day connections, presenting a persistent and pervasive classroom distraction. The continuing decline in numbers opting to study second-level history indicates an erosion of what should be a critical opportunity to develop all-important lifeworld literacies within formal education. In contrast, students readily acknowledge relevance in non-formal settings where many participants meaningfully engage with history by way of student-focused activities. Furthermore, many do so without predesigned pedagogical aids which support transversal skills development as embodied learning outcomes. As this paper will present, there is a dearth of work pertaining to the circular subject of history and its embodied learning outcomes, including lifeworld literacies, in formal and non-formal settings. While frequently challenging to reconcile formal (often defined by strict curricula and examination processes), and non-formal engagement with history, opportunities do exist. In the Irish context, this is exemplified by a popular university outreach programme: breaking the SEAL. This programme supports second-level history students as they fulfill curriculum requirements in completing a research study report. This report is a student-led research project pulling on communication skills, collaboration with peers and teachers, interpersonal relationships, problem-solving, and planning and organizational skills. Completion of this process has been widely recognized as excellent preparation not only for higher education (third level) but work-life demands as well. Within a formal education setting, the RSR harnesses non-formal learning virtues and exposes students to limited aspects of independent learning that relate to a professional work setting –a lifeworld literacy. Breaking the SEAL provides opportunities for students to enhance their lifeworld literacy by engaging in an independent research and learning process within the protective security of the classroom and its teacher. This paper will highlight the critical role this programme plays in preparing participating students (n=315) for life after compulsory education and presents examples of how lifeworld literacies may be developed through a scaffolded process of historical research and reporting anchored in non-formal contexts.

Keywords: history, education, literacy, transversal skills

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Authors: Kiran, Pooja Bhagat

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Inclusion of diversities is much talked and discussed for school education, mainly at the elementary level. However, not enough discourse has taken place as far as the promulgation of diversities from school education to higher education in terms of guarantee of access, retention and success of students belonging to the diverse groups is concerned. In view of this, the present paper attempts to look at the phenomenon of inclusion of diversities in higher education from the perspective of the people, who themselves are the part of the present system of higher education and aspiring to take up teaching at higher education level as profession. The paper focuses on exploring the awareness of the group under study about the inclusion of diversities at higher education, their perception of diversities, and the mechanism which they consider effective to facilitate inclusion.

Keywords: inclusion, higher education, perception, belief, attitude

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Authors: Zulaiha Maluma Ahmad

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This paper attempted to examine adult and non formal education for the attainment of entrepreneurial skills in empowering the citizens with entrepreneurial skills, for Nigeria’s socioeconomic development. This paper highlighted the meaning of education in the context of skill acquisition, entrepreneurial education, adult and non formal education. It also examined the objectives, issues and challenges as well as prospects of this type of education. It further discussed the role of adult and non formal education for the attainment of socioeconomic development of a growing nation like Nigeria. The paper equally proffered some recommendations and eventually concluded that adult and non formal education can indeed make self reliance, personal satisfaction and the attainment of entrepreneurial education for the socioeconomic development of any nation, possible.

Keywords: entrepreneurial education, adult education, non formal education skills, Nigeria

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Authors: Marine Hascoet, Valentina Giaconi, Ludivine Jamain

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The aim of our study is to examine if the family socio-economic status (SES) has an influence on students’ academic achievement. We first make the hypothesis that the more their families have financial and social resources, the more students succeed at school. We second make the hypothesis that this family SES has also an impact on parents’ expectations about their children educational outcomes. Moreover, we want to study if that parents’ expectations play the role of mediator between parents’ socio-economic status and the student’ self-concept and academic outcome. We test this model with a longitudinal design thanks to the census-based assessment from the System of Measurement of the Quality of Education (SIMCE). The SIMCE tests aim to assess all the students attending to regular education in a defined level. The sample used in this study came from the SIMCE assessments done three times: in 4th, 8th and 11th grade during the years 2007, 2011 and 2014 respectively. It includes 156.619 students (75.084 boys and 81.535 girls) that had valid responses for the three years. The family socio-economic status was measured at the first assessment (in 4th grade). The parents’ educational expectations and the students’ self-concept were measured at the second assessment (in 8th grade). The achievement score was measured twice; once when children were in 4th grade and a second time when they were in 11th grade. To test our hypothesis, we have defined a structural equation model. We found that our model fit well the data (CFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.05). Both family SES and prior achievements predict parents’ educational expectations and effect of SES is important in comparison to the other coefficients. These expectations predict students’ achievement three years later (with prior achievement controlled) but not their self-concept. Our model explains 51.9% of the achievement in the 11th grade. Our results confirm the importance of the parents’ expectations and the significant role of socio-economic status in students’ academic achievement in Chile.

Keywords: Chilean context, parent’s expectations, school achievement, self-concept, socio-economic status

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Authors: Guadalupe Fuentes-Lombardo, Manuel Carlos Vallejo-Martos, Rubén Fernández-Ortiz, Miriam Cano-Rubio

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The different ways in which companies enter foreign markets, exporting their products and direct investment and using strategic alliances or not, are influenced by a series of peculiarities specific to family businesses. In these companies, different systems, such as the family, property, and business overlap; giving them unique and specific characteristics which on occasions can enhance the development of cooperation agreements and in other situations can hinder them. Previous research has shown that these companies are more likely to enter into strategic alliances with certain specific features, and are more reluctant to take part in others in which some of the advantages of the family business are put at risk, such as control of ownership and decision-making over the company by the family, among others. These arguments show that there is a wide range of interesting aspects and peculiarities in the process of internationalization of the family business, although the research objectives of this paper focus on three in particular. Our first objective will be to discover why family businesses decide to establish or not strategic alliances in their internationalization processes in comparison with other companies that are not family owned. Secondly we will be identifying the idiosyncratic aspects of family businesses that favor or hinder the use of strategic alliances as a means of entering foreign markets. Our third and final objective will be to define the types of strategic alliance most commonly used by family businesses and the reasons why they choose these particular forms of alliance rather than others. We chose these research objectives for three main reasons. Firstly because research on this subject shows that alliances are the best way to begin the international expansion process, among other reasons because they provide the partners with different kinds of resources and capacity, so increasing the probability of successful internationalization. Secondly, because family and non-family businesses are often equipped with different types of resources and strategic alliances, offer them the chance to acquire resources less frequently found in family businesses. Thirdly, because the strengths and weaknesses of these companies could affect their decisions whether or not to use strategic alliances in their international expansion process and the success achieved in these alliances. As a result, these companies prefer to enter into cooperation agreements with conditions that do not put their specific status as family companies at risk.

Keywords: family business, internationalization, strategic alliances, olive-oil and wine industry

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Authors: Oluwalola Felicia Kikelomo

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The introduction of entrepreneurship education in polytechnics is seen as a measure to reduce the rate of unemployment and strategically position the economy for sustainable development in Nigeria. This paper discusses the roles of polytechnics in entrepreneurship development. It also examines the challenges of entrepreneurship education in Polytechnics. The paper recommends, among others, that the entrepreneurship education should be property funded by the government with the support of non-governmental organizations so that there would be adequate resources to organize and manage the education. In addition, drastic and serious awareness campaigns should be mounted to sensitize the public and the students on the need for entrepreneurship education.

Keywords: education, polytechnic entrepreneurship development, education, human development

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Authors: Nada Mohammad Eljeshi

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In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), preschoolers can enroll in kindergarten after completing four years old by August 31 of their admission year. This study aims to better understand how Sharjah-based parents’ engagement with preschoolers contributes to their phonological awareness, literacy development, and print knowledge before their kindergarten admission considering cognitive development is addressed in the UAE national child care standards. More specifically, it will discuss the importance of cognitive development activities to preschoolers, the rationale behind defining the admission age to kindergarten and compare and benchmark the policy to other countries. To achieve this study's objectives, an online survey was conducted and distributed. Respondents were asked 13 dichotomous questions related to activities that promote the preschooler’s linguistics literacy and cognitive development. The results suggested parents’ emphasis on phonological awareness, followed by developing their print knowledge. However, the majority of the surveyed parents did not engage in literacy development with their preschoolers. On this basis, it is clear parents’ awareness should occur by introducing various activities such as book reading, that there is a need to introduce and encourage parents to various activities such as reading a printed book and drawings to keep up with their children's cognitive development. The survey results suggested an emphasis on phonological awareness, followed by developing their print knowledge. However, the majority of the surveyed parents did not engage in literacy development with their preschoolers. On this basis, parental awareness of the importance of preschoolers' cognitive development should be developed and engage the parents in understanding their preschooler’s cognitive development before entering kindergarten.

Keywords: preschoolers, cognitive development, parental engagement, Sharjah-based case study

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Authors: Carolina Busco, Daniela Osses

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The development of digital literacy has become a fundamental element that allows for citizen inclusion, access to quality jobs, and a labor market capable of responding to the digital economy. There are no methodological instruments available in Chile to measure the workforce’s digital literacy and improve national policies on this matter. Thus, the objective of this research is to develop a survey to measure digital literacy in a sample of 200 Chilean workers. Dimensions considered in the instrument are sociodemographics, access to infrastructure, digital education, digital skills, and the ability to use e-government services. To achieve the research objective of developing a digital literacy model of indicators and a research instrument for this purpose, along with an exploratory analysis of data using factor analysis, we used an empirical, quantitative-qualitative, exploratory, non-probabilistic, and cross-sectional research design. The research instrument is a survey created to measure variables that make up the conceptual map prepared from the bibliographic review. Before applying the survey, a pilot test was implemented, resulting in several adjustments to the phrasing of some items. A validation test was also applied using six experts, including their observations on the final instrument. The survey contained 49 items that were further divided into three sets of questions: sociodemographic data; a Likert scale of four values ranked according to the level of agreement; iii) multiple choice questions complementing the dimensions. Data collection occurred between January and March 2022. For the factor analysis, we used the answers to 12 items with the Likert scale. KMO showed a value of 0.626, indicating a medium level of correlation, whereas Bartlett’s test yielded a significance value of less than 0.05 and a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.618. Taking all factor selection criteria into account, we decided to include and analyze four factors that together explain 53.48% of the accumulated variance. We identified the following factors: i) access to infrastructure and opportunities to develop digital skills at the workplace or educational establishment (15.57%), ii) ability to solve everyday problems using digital tools (14.89%), iii) online tools used to stay connected with others (11.94%), and iv) residential Internet access and speed (11%). Quantitative results were discussed within six focus groups using heterogenic selection criteria related to the most relevant variables identified in the statistical analysis: upper-class school students; middle-class university students; Ph.D. professors; low-income working women, elderly individuals, and a group of rural workers. The digital divide and its social and economic correlations are evident in the results of this research. In Chile, the items that explain the acquisition of digital tools focus on access to infrastructure, which ultimately puts the first filter on the development of digital skills. Therefore, as expressed in the literature review, the advance of these skills is radically different when sociodemographic variables are considered. This increases socioeconomic distances and exclusion criteria, putting those who do not have these skills at a disadvantage and forcing them to seek the assistance of others.

Keywords: digital literacy, digital society, workforce digitalization, digital skills

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Authors: Irni Rahmayani Johan, Ira Kamelia

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One of the impacts of the rapid advancement of technology is the rise of digital finance, including peer-to-peer lending (P2P). P2P lending has been widely marketed, including an online student loan that used the P2P platform. This study aims to analyze the effect of financial literacy, perception of debt, and perception of risk toward student willingness to use the online student loan (P2P lending). Using a cross-sectional study design, in collecting the data this study employed an online survey method, with a total sample of 280 undergraduate students of IPB university, Indonesia. This study found that financial literacy, perception of debt, perception of risk, and interest in using online student loans are categorized as low level. While the level of knowledge is found to be the lowest, the first-year students showed a higher level in terms of willingness to use the online student loan. In addition, the second year students recorded a positive perception toward debt. This study showed that level of study, attendance in personal finance course, and student’ GPA is positively related to financial knowledge. While debt perception is negatively related to financial attitudes. Similarly, the negative relationship is found between risk perception and the willingness to use the online student loan. The determinant factor of the willingness to use online student loans is the level of study, debt perception, financial risk perception, and time risk perception. Students with a higher level of study are more likely to have a lower interest in using online student loans. Moreover, students who perceived debt as a financial stimulator, as well as those with higher level of financial risk perceptions and time risk perceptions, tend to show more interest to use the loan.

Keywords: financial literacy, willingness to use, online student loan, perception of risk, perception of debt

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Authors: Fathonah Siti, Ardiana Irma

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Indonesia is currently on its track to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2019. The program aims to address issues on disintegration in the implementation and coverage of various health insurance schemes and fragmented fund pooling. Family planning service is covered as one of benefit packages under preventive care. However, little has been done to examine how family planning program are appropriately managed across levels of governments and how family planning services are delivered to the end user. The study is performed through focus group discussion to related policy makers and selected programmers at central and district levels. The study is also benefited from relevant studies on family planning in the UHC scheme and other supporting data. The study carefully investigates some programmatic implications when family planning is integrated in the UHC program encompassing the need to recalculate contraceptive logistics for beneficiaries (eligible couple); policy reformulation for contraceptive service provision including supply chain management; establishment of family planning standard of procedure; and a call to update Management Information System. The study confirms that there is a significant increase in the numbers of contraceptive commodities needs to be procured by the government. Holding an assumption that contraceptive prevalence rate and commodities cost will be as expected increasing at 0.5% annually, the government need to allocate almost IDR 5 billion by 2019, excluded fee for service. The government shifts its focus to maintain eligible health facilities under National Population and Family Planning Board networks. By 2019, the government has set strategies to anticipate the provision of family planning services to 45.340 health facilities distributed in 514 districts and 7 thousand sub districts. Clear division of authorities has been established among levels of governments. Three models of contraceptive supply planning have been developed and currently in the process of being institutionalized. Pre service training for family planning services has been piloted in 10 prominent universities. The position of private midwives has been appreciated as part of the system. To ensure the implementation of quality and health expenditure control, family planning standard has been established as a reference to determine set of services required to deliver to the clients properly and types of health facilities to conduct particular family planning services. Recognition to individual status of program participation has been acknowledged in the Family Enumeration since 2015. The data is precisely recorded by name by address for each family and its members. It supplies valuable information to 15.131 Family Planning Field Workers (FPFWs) to provide information and education related to family planning in an attempt to generate demand and maintain the participation of family planning acceptors who are program beneficiaries. Despite overwhelming efforts described above, some obstacles remain. The program experiences poor socialization and yet removes geographical barriers for those living in remote areas. Family planning services provided for this sub population conducted outside the scheme as a complement strategy. However, UHC program has brought remarkable improvement in access and quality of family planning services.

Keywords: beneficiary, family planning services, national population and family planning board, universal health coverage

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Authors: Mahya Saffarinia

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The family has existed as a natural unit of human relations from the beginning of creation and life of human society until now and has been the core of the relationship between women, men, and children. However, in the field of human relations, the definition of family, related rights and duties, principles governing the family, the impact of the family on other individual or social phenomena and various other areas have changed over time, especially in recent decades, and the subject has now become one of the important categories of studies including interdisciplinary studies. It is difficult to provide an accurate and comprehensive definition of the family, and in the context of different cultures, customs, and legal systems, different definitions of family are presented. The meaning of legal principles governing the family is the general rules of law that determine the organization of different dimensions of the family, and dozens of partial rules are inferred from it or defined in the light of these general rules. How each of these principles was formed has left its own detailed history. In international human rights standards, which have been gradually developed over the past 72 years, numerous data can be found that in some way represent a rule in the field of family law or provide an interpretation of existing international rules which also address obligations of governments in the field of family. Based on a descriptive-analytical method and by examining human rights instruments, the present study seeks to explain the effective elements in defining and the principles governing the family. This article makes it clear that international instruments do not provide a clear definition of the family and that governments are empowered to define the family in terms of the cultural context of their community. But at the same time, it has been stipulated that governments do not have the exclusive authority to provide this definition, and certain principles should be considered as essential elements. Also, 7 principles have been identified as general legal rules governing all international human rights instruments related to the family, such as the principle of voluntary family formation and the prohibition of forced marriage, and the principle of respecting human dignity for all family members. Each of these 7 principles has led to different debates, and the acceptance or non-acceptance of each of them has different consequences in the rights and duties related to the family and the relations between its members and even the family's interactions with others and society. One of the consequences of the validity of these principles in family-related human rights standards is that many of the existing legal systems of countries in some cases need to be amended and their regulations revised, and some established cultural traditions in societies that are considered inhumane in terms of these principles need to be modified and changed. Of course, this process of governing the principles derived from human rights standards over the family also has vulnerabilities and misinterpretations that should not be neglected.

Keywords: family, human rights, international instruments, principles

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Authors: Nadeem Hassan, Farooq Ahmad

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The quality of education has a direct impact on individual, family, society, economy in general and the mankind as a whole. Because of that thousands of research papers and articles are written on the quality of education, billions of dollars are spent and continuously being spent on research and enhancing the quality of education. Academic programs accredited agencies define the various criterion of quality of education; academic institutions obtain accreditation from these agencies to ensure degree programs offered at their institution are of international standards. This R&D aims to build a web based analytical tool (OptiBaha) that finds the gaps in AlBaha University education system by taking input from stakeholders, including students, faculty, staff and management. The input/online-data collected by this tool will be analyzed on core areas of education as proposed by accredited agencies, CAC of ABET and NCAAA of KSA, including student background, language, culture, motivation, curriculum, teaching methodology, assessment and evaluation, performance and progress, facilities, availability of teaching materials, faculty qualification, monitoring, policies and procedures, and more. Based on different analytical reports, gaps will be highlighted, and remedial actions will be proposed. If the tool is implemented and made available through a continuous process the quality of education at AlBaha University can be enhanced, it will also help in fulfilling criterion of accreditation agencies. The tool will be generic in nature and ultimately can be used by any academic institution.

Keywords: academic quality, accreditation agencies, higher education, policies and procedures

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Authors: Bu Kyung Park

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Background: The survival rate of pediatric cancer patients has been increased. Thus, the needs of long-term management and follow-up education after discharge continue to grow. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of pediatric cancer patients and their families from first diagnosis to returning their social life. The ultimate goal of this study was to assess which information and intervention did pediatric cancer patients and their families required and needed, so that this could provide fundamental information for developing educational content of web-based intervention program for pediatric cancer patients. Research Approach: This study was based on a descriptive qualitative research design using semi-structured focus group interview. Participants: Twelve pediatric cancer patients and 12 family members participated in a total six focus group interview sessions. Methods: All interviews were audiotaped after obtaining participants’ approval. The recordings were transcribed. Qualitative Content analysis using the inductive coding approach was performed on the transcriptions by three coders. Findings: Eighteen categories emerged from the six main themes: 1) Information needs, 2) Support system, 3) Barriers to treatment, 4) Facilitators to treatment, 5) Return to social life, 6) Healthcare system issues. Each theme had both pediatric cancer patients’ codes and their family members’ codes. Patients and family members had high information needs through the whole process of treatment, not only the first diagnosis but also after completion of treatment. Hospitals provided basic information on chemo therapy, medication, and various examinations. However, they were more likely to rely on information from other patients and families by word of mouth. Participants’ information needs were different according to their treatment stage (e.g., first admitted patients versus cancer survivors returning to their social life). Even newly diagnosed patients worried about social adjustment after completion of all treatment, such as return to school and diet and physical activity at home. Most family members had unpleasant experiences while they were admitted in hospitals and concerned about healthcare system issues, such as medical error and patient safety. Conclusions: In conclusion, pediatric cancer patients and their family members wanted information source which can provide tailored information based on their needs. Different information needs with patients and their family members based on their diagnosis, progress, stage of treatment were identified. Findings from this study will be used to develop a patient-centered online health intervention program for pediatric cancer patients. Pediatric cancer patients and their family members had variety fields of education needs and soak the information from various sources. Web-based health intervention program for them is required to satisfy their inquiries to provide reliable information.

Keywords: focus group interview, family caregivers, pediatric cancer patients, qualitative content analysis

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Authors: Beatrice Wamuyu Muchiri, Monika M. L. Dos Santos

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An increasingly recognised prevention approach for substance use entails reduction in risk factors and enhancement of promotive or protective factors in individuals and the environment surrounding them during their growth and development. However, in order to enhance the effectiveness of this approach, continuous study of risk aspects targeting different cultures, social groups and mixture of society has been recommended. This study evaluated the impact of potential risk and protective factors associated with family management and relations on adolescent substance abuse in South Africa. Exploratory analysis and cumulative odds ordinal logistic regression modelling was performed on the data while controlling for demographic and socio-economic characteristics on adolescent substance use. The most intensely used substances were tobacco, cannabis, cocaine, heroin and alcohol in decreasing order of use intensity. The specific protective or risk impact of family management or relations factors varied from substance to substance. Risk factors associated with demographic and socio-economic factors included being male, younger age, being in lower education grades, coloured ethnicity, adolescents from divorced parents and unemployed or fully employed mothers. Significant family relations risk and protective factors against substance use were classified as either family functioning and conflict or family bonding and support. Several family management factors, categorised as parental monitoring, discipline, behavioural control and rewards, demonstrated either risk or protective effect on adolescent substance use. Some factors had either interactive risk or protective impact on substance use or lost significance when analysed jointly with other factors such as controlled variables. Interaction amongst risk or protective factors as well as the type of substance should be considered when further considering interventions based on these risk or protective factors. Studies in other geographical regions, institutions and with better gender balance are recommended to improve upon the representativeness of the results. Several other considerations to be made when formulating interventions, the shortcomings of this study and possible improvements as well as future studies are also suggested.

Keywords: risk factors, protective factors, substance use, adolescents

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Authors: Wanlapa Kunsongkeit

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When a person gets sick, he or she goes to hospital for the treatment. In the case of severe illness, there might be no hope for some patients to recover. In this state, the patients will face anxiety and fear. These feelings make the patients suffer in mind until the time of death or called bad death. These feeling also directly effect to family members who are loved ones and significant persons of the patients. They can help the dying patients to have good death. From literature reviews, many studies focused on good death in patients and nurses. Little is known about good death in family member. Therefore, the qualitative research based on Heideggerian phenomenology aimed to describe good death as perceived by the critically ill patients’ family members. Five informants who were the critically ill patients’ family members at hospital in Chonburi were purposively selected. Data were collected by in-depth interview, observation and critical reflection during January, 2014 to March, 2014 . Cohen, Kahn and Steeves’s (2000) steps guided data analysis. Trustworthiness was maintained throughout the study following Lincoln and Guba’s guidelines. Four themes were emerged, which were no suffering, acceptance of imminent death, preparing for death, and being with the family. This findings provide deep understanding of good death as perceived by the critically ill patients’ family members. It can be basic information for nurses to provide good death nursing care and further explore for development of knowledge regarding good death nursing care.

Keywords: good death, family member, critically ill patient, phenomenology

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Authors: Razan Salem

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Men and women are different, and so their investment behaviors may also vary. To the author’s best knowledge, women's investment behavior and its association with demographic factors have not been explored directly in the behavioral finance literature, however, particularly in respect to the Arab region. Thus, this study extends the literature by focusing on examining the association of demographic factors (age, annual income, and education) with Arab women’s investment behavior. To achieve the study’s aim, the researcher distributed 600 close-ended online questionnaires to a sample of Arab male and female individual investors in both Saudi Arabia and Jordan; using Kruskal-Wallis H Test and the Mann-Whitney U Test to analyze the data. The findings reveal that age, education, and level of income are associated with Arab women’s investment behavior. Educational level and level of income are positively associated with Arab women investment confidence level. On the contrary, age is negatively associated with Arab women financial risk tolerance. According to annual income, Arab women with lower incomes have lower confidence and investment literacy levels. Overall, the study concludes that age, income, and education are important demographic factors that must be considered when investigating the investment behavior of women in the Arab region.

Keywords: Arab region, demographic factors, investment behavior, women investors

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Authors: Pui-Lai To, Chechen Liao, Ming-Chi Sung

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Work and family life are the most important areas for men and women today. Every professional is required to meet and fulfill the responsibilities of work and family roles. Although the development and popularity of communication technology bring a lot of benefits, including effective and efficient communication, may also generate conflicts between work and family life. Since mobile devices and the applications of mobile devices, such as instant messages, are ubiquitous, the boundaries of work and family roles are increasingly blurred. Professionals may be in the risk of work over-loading and work-family conflict. This study examines the impact of work stress on professionals’ life and health in the context of instant messaging application of smart phone. This study uses a web-based questionnaire to collect samples. The questionnaires are sent via virtual community sites, instant messaging applications, and e-mail. The study develops and empirically validates a work-family conflict model by integrating the pressure theory and technostress factors. The causal relationship between variables in the research model is tested. In terms of data analysis, Partial Least Square (PLS) in Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used for sample analysis and research model testing. The results of this study are as follows. First, both the variables of work-related stress and technological violations positively affect the work-family conflict. Second, both the variables of work-loading and technology-overloading have no effect on work-family conflict. Third, work-family conflict has negative effect on job satisfaction, family satisfaction, physical health, and mental health.

Keywords: mental health, physical health, technostress, work-family conflict, work-related stress

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Authors: Kimberlyn Greene

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Employers today expect college graduates to not only develop and demonstrate content-specific knowledge but also 21st century skillsets such as critical thinking. International assessments suggest students enrolled in United States (U.S.) educational institutions are underperforming in comparison to their global peers in areas such as critical thinking and technology. This multi-case study examined how undergraduate digital literacy courses at a four-year university in the U.S., as implemented by instructors, fostered students’ development of critical thinking skills. The conceptual framework for this study presumed that as students engaged in complex thinking within the context of a digital literacy course, their ability to deploy critical thinking was contingent upon whether the course was designed with the expectation for students to use critical thinking skills as well as the instructor’s approach to implementing the course. Qualitative data collected from instructor interviews, classroom observations, and course documents were analyzed with an emphasis on exploring the course design and instructional methods that provided opportunities to foster critical thinking skill development. Findings from the cross-case analysis revealed that although the digital literacy courses were designed and implemented with the expectation students would deploy critical thinking; there was no explicit support for students to develop these skills. The absence of intentional skill development resulted in inequitable opportunities for all students to engage in complex thinking. The implications of this study suggest that if critical thinking is to remain a priority, then universities must expand their support of pedagogical and instructional training for faculty regarding how to support students’ critical thinking skill development.

Keywords: critical thinking skill development, curriculum design, digital literacy, pedagogy

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Authors: Lina Feng

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The study aimed at establishing quality evaluation indicators of an early education center for 0~3 years old, and defining the weight system of it. Expert questionnaire and Fuzzy Delphi method were applied. Firstly, in order to ensure the indicators in accordance with the practice of early education, 16 experts were invited as respondents to a preliminary Expert Questionnaire about Quality Evaluation Indicators of Early Education Center for 0~3 Years Old. The indicators were based on relevant studies on quality evaluation indicators of early education centers in China and abroad. Secondly, 20 scholars, kindergarten principals, and educational administrators were invited to form a fuzzy Delphi expert team. The experts’ opinions on the importance of indicators were calculated through triangle fuzzy numbers in order to select appropriate indicators and calculate indicator weights. This procedure resulted in the final Quality Evaluation Indicators of Early education Center for 0~3 Years Old. The Indicators contained three major levels, including 6 first-level indicators, 30 second-level indicators, and 147 third-level indicators. The 6 first-level indicators were health and safety; educational and cultivating activities; development of babies; conditions of the center; management of the center; and collaboration between family and the community. The indicators established by this study could provide suggestions for the high-quality environment for promoting the development of early year children.

Keywords: early education center for 0~3 years old, educational management, fuzzy delphi method, quality evaluation indicator

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Authors: Jian-Na Zhang, Xiao-Li Chen, Si-Jian Li

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Objective: In order to investigate current status on knowledge of disaster prevention and reduction in rural pupils, to explore education method on disaster prevention and reduction for rural pupils. Method: A questionnaire was designed based on literature review. Convenient sampling was used in the survey. The questionnaire survey was conducted among 180 students from Huodehong town central primary school which located in Ludian county of Zhaotong city in Yunnan province, where 6.5 magnitude earthquake happened in 2014. The result indicated that the pupils’ knowledge and skills on disaster prevention and reduction relevant poor. The source for them to obtain the knowledge of disaster prevention and reduction included TV (68.9%), followed by their parents (43.9%), while only 24.4% of knowledge is from the teachers. The scores about different natural disaster are ranking in descending order: earthquake (5.39 ±1.27), floods (3.77 ±1.17); debris flow (2.81 ±1.05), family fire (2.16± 0.96). And the disaster experience did not help the pupils enhance the knowledge reserves. There is no statistical significance (P > 0.05) in knowledge scores of disaster prevention and reduction between experienced and non-experienced group. Conclusion: The local disaster experiences did not draw the attention of parents and schools. Knowledge popularization of disaster for local pupils is extremely urgent. It is necessary to take advantage of more mediums to popularize the knowledge and skills about disaster prevention and reduction, for example, family education, school education, newspapers, brochures, etc. The training courses on disaster prevention and reduction which are based on the characteristics of the local rural pupils and the characteristics of the local disasters would be useful.

Keywords: rural, pupils, disaster prevention and reduction knowledge, popularization

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Authors: María José Benitez Jimenez

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This study seeks to make clear the importance of family reunification in order to establish consolidated habits of coexistence of immigrants, directly favoring the relationship of the family nucleus and indirectly the social integration of foreigners. In addition to the theoretical analysis of the subject, information has been reviewed by the National Institute of Statistics and Reports of Spanish organizations that compile data on immigrants and specifically on family reunification. The Spanish regulations on foreigners include the right of foreigners legally residing in Spain to regroup their families. The general conditions required to exercise this right are having legally resided in Spain for one year and having obtained authorization to reside for one more year. There are exceptions to the requirement of having resided for one year in our country. Article 39 of the Spanish Constitution, although it does not express what is to be understood as a family, does refer to the fact that ‘the public authorities ensure the social, economic and legal protection of the family’. Therefore for the Spanish State, the family institution, in a broad sense, enjoys a privileged treatment that is revealed in the Supreme Norm and that reflects the interest of our society to address the relationships that subjects have in their immediate environment. Although we are aware of the reluctant position of the Spanish Constitutional Court to consider as a fundamental right the right to family life despite being enshrined in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, it is questionable whether access to authorization for family reunification should be more uniform in terms of requirements related to nationality, employment or training of applicants in order to have an egalitarian character. The requirement of having resided one year in Spain to be able to request successful family reunification seems dispensable because if foreigners can obviate this requirement by having a certain status, its abolition would be feasible by equating all situations and benefiting foreigners in general. The achievement of this proposal would help to strengthen the family life of immigrants from the beginning of their life in Spain.

Keywords: family, immigrants, social integration, reunification

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Authors: Ika Jorum

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The aim of this collaborative project was to develop library support that contributes in a long-term way to a technical university’s work on increased equality in education. The background was an assessment made by the Higher Education Authority that showed the need for improvement regarding equality in several programs at the university. The university’s Vice President for equality and Vice President for sustainability announced funds for projects that supported the improvement of equality in education. The library was granted funding for a one-year project that aimed both to support teachers in order to embed equality in education and to support the library staff and improve the organization’s own work. The part of the project that was directed to teachers was performed as activities in different areas and forms, such as acquisition and collections, teaching, exhibitions and book discussions. Besides the activities and support that was offered to teachers, the education team had journal clubs in order to develop and embed equality in their own teaching. The part that was directed to library staff and management was performed as workshops in collaboration with Equality Office in order to identify areas where the library could make improvements on work with equality and inclusion. The expectation was that the activities would be well attended since the project team had got indications that the content would be relevant. The outcome of this project was that some activities turned out to be more attended than others and what is expected to be found relevant, for example, a workshop on information searching from a gender and equality perspective for teachers, might still not attract participants. On the other hand, Ph.D. students and students participated in the book discussions and wanted them to continue after the project had ended. Results will be shared both on what was successful and what was challenging. Some reflections will be given on what can be done to attract participants to activities in the area of gender equality that is most likely relevant for the expected attendants and how results from a project on gender equality can be integrated into an organization’s daily work.

Keywords: equality, higher education, critical information literacy, collaboration

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Authors: Mehravar Javid, Katherine Marshall Woods, Joseph Kosowsky, Anna Missner

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In this paper, "Life and a Day" is analyzed psychoanalytically with an emphasis on the ways by which addiction is influenced by personal psychology and familial ties. It explores the influence of parenting on one's sense of self and the function of therapeutic alliances in the treatment of addiction. The analysis also observes the main characters, with a special emphasis on Somayeh, who represents the continuation of her father's role in the family and faces identity and autonomy issues in the face of familial responsibilities. In addressing addiction, the document emphasizes the significance of comprehending family dynamics and individual psychological factors, emphasizing the interaction between personal trauma, family roles, and recovery.

Keywords: addiction, autonomy, family dynamics, identity, life and a day, psychoanalytic

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Authors: Lutaf Ali, Haris Ahmed, Hina Najmi

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Background: Access, better counseling and quality in the provision of family planning services remain big challenges. Sukh Initiative (a project of three different foundations) is a multi-pronged approach, working in one million underserved population residing peri urban slums in Karachi and providing door to door services by lady health workers (LHWs) and community health workers (CHWs) linked with quality family planning and reproductive (FP/RH) services both at public and private health care facilities. Objective: To assess the improvement in family planning and reproductive health behavior among MWRAs by improving access in peri-urban-underserved population of Karachi. Methodology: Using cross sectional study design 3866 married women with reproductive age (MWRAs) were interviewed in peri urban region of Karachi during November 2016 to January 2017. All face to face structured interviews were conducted with women aged 15-49 currently living with their husbands. Based on the project intervention question on reproductive health were developed and questions on contraceptive use were adopted from PDHS- Pakistan 2013. Descriptive and inferential analysis was performed on SPSS version 22. Results: 65% of population sample are literate, 51% women were in young age group- 15–29. On the poverty index, 6% of the population sample living at national poverty line 1.25$ and 52% at 2.50$. During the project years 79% women opted for facility based delivery; private facilities are the priority choice. 61.7% women initiated the contraceptive use in last two years (after the project).Use of family planning was increased irrespective of education level and poverty index- about 55.5% women with no formal education are using any form of contraception and trend of current modern contraceptives across poverty scores strata equally distributed amongst all groups. Age specific modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR)(between 25-34) was found to be 43.8%. About 23% of this contraceptive ascertained from door to door services- short acting, (pills and condoms) are common, 29.5% from public facilities and 47.6% are from public facilities in which long acting and permanent method most received methods. Conclusion: Strategy of expanding access and choice in the form of providing family planning information and supplies at door step and availability of quality family planning services in the peripheries of underserved may improve the behavior of women regarding FP/RH.

Keywords: access, family planning, underserved population, socio-demographic facts

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Authors: S. J. Hachar

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The goal of this paper is to provide educators an overview of international practices supporting young learners, arming us with adequate information to lead effective change. We will report on research and observations of Service Learning Projects conducted by one South Texas University. The intent of the paper is also to provide readers an overview of service learning in the preparation of teacher candidates pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. The objective of noting the efficiency and effectiveness of programs leading to literacy and oral fluency in a native language and second language will be discussed. This paper also highlights experiential learning for academic credit that combines community service with student learning. Six weeks of visits to a variety of community sites, making personal observations with faculty members, conducting extensive interviews with parents and key personnel at all sites will be discussed. The culminating Service Learning Expo will be reported as well.

Keywords: elementary education, junior achievement, service learning

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Authors: Aiydh Aljeddani

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Sustainable learning is an emerging concept that aims at enhancing sustainability literacy and competency in educational contexts. Mobile learning is one of the means increasingly used in sustainable development education nowadays. Studies which have explored this issue in the Saudi educational context so far are rare. Therefore, the current study attempted to explore the current situation of the usage of mobile learning in the Saudi elementary and secondary schools as a means of promoting sustainable learning. It also focused on how mobile learning has been implemented in those schools to promote sustainable learning and what factors have contributed to the success/failure of the implementation of mobile learning and possible ways to improve the current practice. An interpretive approach was followed in this study to gain a thorough understanding of the explored issue in the Saudi educational context using the activity theory as a lens to do so. A qualitative case study methodology in which semi-structured interviews, documents analysis and nominal group were used to gather the data for this study. Two hundred and twenty-nine participants representing several main stakeholders in the educational system took part in this study. Those included six general education schools, head teachers, teachers, students’ parents, educational supervisors, one curriculum designer and academic curriculum specialists. Through the lens of activity theory, the results of the study showed that there were contradictions in the current practice between the elements of the activity system and within each of its elements. Furthermore, several sociocultural factors have influenced both the division of labour and the community's members. These have acted as obstacles which have impeded the usage of mobile learning to promote sustainable learning in this context. It was found that shifting from the current practice to sustainable learning via the usage of mobile learning requires appropriate interrelationship between the different elements of the activity system. The study finally offers a number of recommendations to improve on the current practices and suggests areas for further studies.

Keywords: activity theory, mobile learning, sustainability competency, sustainability literacy, sustainable learning

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Authors: Jennifer Duffy, Liz Fleming

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Teacher shortage in special education is an American educational problem. Due to the implementation of The No Child Left Behind Act (2001) and The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004), there has been an increase in the number of students requiring special education services. Consequently, there has been an influx to hire more special education teachers. However, the historic challenge of hiring certified special education teachers has been intensified with this the profession’s increasing demand of positions to fill. Efforts to improve recruitment and entry into the field must be informed by an understanding of the factors that initially inspire special education teachers to choose this career pathway. Hence, an understanding of reasons why teachers select special education as a profession is needed. The purpose of this study was to explore personal, academic, and professional motivations that lead to the selection of special education as a career choice. Using the grounded theory approach, this research investigation examined the factors that were most instrumental in influencing applicants to select special education as a career choice. Over one hundred de-identified graduate school applications to Bay Path University’s Graduate Special Education Programs from 2014- 2017 were qualitatively analyzed. Grounded coding was used to discover themes that emerged in applicants’ admissions essays explaining why he/she was pursuing a career in special education. The central themes that were most influential in applicants’ selection of special education as a career trajectory were (a) personal/familial connections to disability, (b) meaningful paraprofessional experiences working with disabled children, (c) aptitudes for teaching, and (d) finding personal rewards and professional fulfillment by advocating for vulnerable children. Implications from these findings include educating family members of children with disabilities about possible career tracks in special education, designing programs for paraprofessionals to become certified teachers, exposing prospective teacher candidates to the field of special education, and recruiting professionals from the human services field who seek to improve the quality of life and educational opportunities for children with special needs.

Keywords: career choice, professional pathways to teaching children with disabilities, special education, teacher recruitment

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Authors: Anyaogu Paul

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The study examines the problem of child labour in respect to National security in Nigeria. The current situation reflects a chronic urban poverty, which can compel parents and guardians to send their children and wards of school age to engage in income yielding activities to augment family income. The study sought to explain the basis of child labour, its causes and its effects on its victim and society at large. A social survey research design was employed to select the respondents. A sample size of 250 respondents was selected from targeted population of children below the age of 18 years. A questionnaire instrument was employed to collect data. An accidental sampling technique was employed to select the respondents. The findings revealed that child labour is on the increase and a serious threat to national security and social cohesion. The study recommends that the Nigerian government should enforce the laws on child labour and provide opportunities for job creation for urban dwellers. More so, government should also provide free and compulsory education at primary and secondary school levels of education.

Keywords: child labour, family income, national security, survey research

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Authors: Şule Yanık, Emel Ertürk-Mustul, Zerrin Turan, Hasan Gürgür

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It is known that there are policies that will support the early special education (ESE) for children requiring special care including the children with hearing loss (CHL) in many countries that give importance to early childhood (0-6 years) education, accordingly ESE services have been gradually increasing and these services provide positive contributions to the child and family. These services begin with medical diagnostics, provision of the use of assistive technologies for hearing and the orientation of children towards early education program (EEP) for the CHL. In 0-3 years of age EEP, education and support services are provided to the children and their families. In 3-6 years of age, children are supported in a pre-school education program (PSE) in which their peers and teachers are present. Therefore, the children with hearing loss and their families are going through a series of medical, educational and social transition process after diagnosed with hearing loss. Depending on their age and development, CHL also go through a transition period from hospital to home, from home to EEP and from EEP to PSE. It is seen that there is no legal regulation regarding the transition process in Turkey and hence different processes have been carried out in the transition process from EEP to PSE. The aim of this study is to reveal the problems confronted by the CHL during the transition period from EEP to PSE and the solution proposals for these problems. In this study, a document review was made by reviewing the national and international studies about transition processes of the CHL in Turkey from EEP to PSE. Accordingly, in the study carried out in two stages, firstly, a review of the body of literature was performed by creating key words related to the subject. Secondly, the problems confronted by the CHL in Turkey during the transition period from EEP to PSE and the solution proposals for these problems were demonstrated by analyzing the obtained data. According to the body of literature, it is seen that there are no laws concerning the transition processes of the children who require special care including the CHL in Turkey from EEP (sending) to PSE (receiving), and correspondingly numerous problems have been experienced during the transition period. It seems that the EEP adopts family-centered approaches for strengthening the families of the CHL. However, PSE program aims to prepare the children to school life by focusing on their social and academical development rather with the adoption of children-centered approaches. Therefore, while the families feel an inseparable part of the team in EEP, they indicated that they felt like a stranger in the school team after their children have started to PSE. Therefore, families find the transition processes worrisome and state that they are not satisfied with the process. We discovered that in the process of transition from EEP to PSE, families are not informed, there is a limited number of PSE options available, children cannot adapt to the new educational environment and cannot benefit from the existing PSE.

Keywords: early education program, early special education, children with hearing loss, transition

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Authors: Brahim Ouzaka, Said Ouhadi

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Family businesses (FB) represent the oldest and most resilient form of organization. However, they are weakened by problems of entrepreneurial discontinuity. The objective of this paper is to analyze the problem of the succession of FBs created by senior entrepreneurs. This study analyzes and explores the constructs of senior entrepreneurship and the strategy and takeover policies of the Moroccan Family owned Small and Medium-Sized Businesses. Our main research question is formulated as follows: how does senior entrepreneurship promote the takeover of Moroccan family SMEs? So we aim through this study to analyze the challenge of the takeover of the FB created by senior entrepreneurs in order to explore and understand the specificities, choices and strategies as well as the reality of the takeover process among this category of senior entrepreneurs. After a review of the literature on the relationship between the constructs of senior entrepreneurship and the takeover of FBs, the empirical study will consist of an exploratory qualitative approach of 3 family SMEs created by senior entrepreneurs and subsequently transmitted to their descendants. This qualitative research serves to explore the choices, the strategies as well as the specificities of the entrepreneurial acts and processes of this category of entrepreneurs. The interviews were conducted with senior entrepreneurs and successors of three Moroccan family SMEs, focusing on the specificity of entrepreneurial actions and strategies in the case of SMEs launched by senior entrepreneurs and on the reality of the conduct and preparation of the takeover process, the methods of socialization and training of buyers in the context of these companies.

Keywords: senior entrepreneurship, family SME, family business, takeover

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