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Descriptors:
Males; Humor; Story Telling; African Americans; Innovation; Cultural Awareness; Counseling Techniques; African American Culture; Socialization

Abstract:
In recent years, the use of culturally appropriate humor as a tool for change within the parameters of counseling has grown within the literature. In comparison, the art of storytelling has had little attention within the literature as a tool for strategic change. This article outlines a framework for the use of humor and storytelling as innovative approaches for successfully counseling African American men. In addition, the growing research on the socialization of men is used to assist in the development of culturally appropriate strategies that help African American men utilize their inherent strengths within the counseling process. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Measures (Individuals); Agriculture; Farm Management; Foreign Countries; Indigenous Knowledge; Environmental Education; Climate; Innovation; Case Studies; Prediction; Extension Education; Information Technology; Rural Areas; Information Sources; Meteorology; Weather

Abstract:
Purpose: New innovative ways of communicating agrometeorological information are needed to help farmers, especially subsistence/small-scale farmers, to cope with the high climate variability experienced in most parts of southern Africa. Design/methodology/approach: The article introduces an early warning system for farmers. It utilizes short messaging system (SMS) to convey weather information and basic agronomic advice to 12 small-scale farmers in Makhado Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa. This case study demonstrates the usefulness of incorporating weather information on day-to-day farm management activities. Coded rainfall forecasts for light (0-5mm), medium (5-20mm) and heavy rainfall (greater than 20mm) were distributed three times a week to individual farmers and extension officers. Accompanying the forecasts were possible agricultural activities for the week. Findings: Extensive training of the farmers and extension officers is a pre-requisite for full comprehension of the coded SMS early warning system. The recommendations on farming conditions are not always adhered to due to farmers' indigenous knowledge and other factors like access to labour. Practical implications: Weather and climate information distributed to farmers has the potential to add value to the farming methods employed, hence positively impacting on rural food security. Originality/value: The article demonstrates that agrometeorological information must be packaged in such a way as to assist farmers and should be disseminated timeously and appropriately to maximize its utility or adoption. (Contains 6 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Social Justice; Children; Foreign Countries; Creativity; Student Diversity; Educational Policy; Inclusion; Professional Development; Innovation; Cooperation; Educational Change

Abstract:
This article connects arguments in the field of integrated and multi-professional working concerning the need to promote a strengths-based approach to children, childhood and children's services with writing about creativity in schooling. It utilizes strength-based and social justice approaches to encourage professionals who work with children and families to recognize the diversity of childhood and support children and families to collaboratively, creatively and flexibly develop solutions to their own life issues and their learning. It questions the extent to which schools are ready to be places that enable collaborative dialogue and considers whether targets and tests lead schools to stifle creativity. It draws from the CREANOVA project funded by the European Commission's Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) to demonstrate the quantitative basis for the argument that flexibility stimulates creativity, and demonstrates that creativity flourishes in environments that value autonomy, openness, supportive structures and collaborative relationships. This finding enables the article to conclude that a culture shift can be achieved that stimulates creativity and innovation in childhood if organizations recognize the abilities of children to stimulate each other's creativity, support children's freedom to learn collaboratively and challenge barriers to learning such as targets and top-down performance indicators. (Contains 3 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Evidence; Innovation; Agricultural Occupations; Agriculture; Rural Education; Foreign Countries; Community Development; Economically Disadvantaged; Sustainability; Food; Security (Psychology); Rural Extension; Poverty; Community Support

Abstract:
Purpose: Farmer-to-farmer extension offers a potentially low-cost and wide-reach alternative in supporting agricultural innovation. Various approaches are being promoted but information on their impact and sustainability is sparse. This study examines experiences of Self Help Africa and partners in Ghana, Uganda and Malawi. It asks: What is good practice in community extension for agriculture? What has been the impact of community extension on food security for smallholder farmers? What is the potential for scale-up and policy influence? Design/methodology/approach: Findings are based on a three-country mixed methods study of 240 households, farmer groups and community, government and NGO extensionists. Findings: Models of good practice include: community selection of extensionists, a twin technical and community development focus, and mutual learning. Impact of community based extension approaches on uptake of technologies, food security and livelihoods of poor groups was found to be broadly positive. Practical implications: Community based approaches appear sustainable where: communities provide support for their extensionists; community extensionists have marketable skills; communities and extensionists are developing Community Based Organisations (CBOs); and linkages are maintained with research and extension bodies. Community based extension approaches are being scaled-up in Malawi and elsewhere. To achieve sustainable pro-poor impacts, support will be needed for continued technical and community development training and back-stopping for community extensionists, and evaluation of different approaches. Originality/value: The study provides important evidence that community extensionists can help facilitate innovation in sustainable agriculture and reach the poor in a cost-effective way. They should be seen by policy-makers as part of pluralistic demand-driven extension, complementing over-stretched extension services. (Contains 6 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Doctoral Programs; Schools of Education; College Faculty; Educational Change; Leadership; Innovation; Action Research; Teacher Attitudes; Professional Identity; Team Teaching; Communities of Practice; Online Surveys

Abstract:
Recent criticisms of the Educational Doctorate (Ed.D.) have challenged faculty members to create or reform such programs. In response to these concerns, faculty members at a particular institution designed and implemented a new Ed.D. program focused on leadership and innovation. We conducted this action research study in order to examine the changes faculty members experienced as they implemented the program along with the factors to which they attributed these changes. Data were gathered with an online survey; and results indicated changes had occurred in perceptions of research, teaching, and students as well as professional identities. Participants attributed these changes to collaborative teaching, a community of practice, and strong leadership. Findings will guide program leaders and faculty members in the coming years and may provide insights to leaders of similar programs and to those guiding innovative efforts. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Propaganda; Visual Aids; Citizenship Education; Political Socialization; Educational History; Latin American History; Social Change; Social Integration; Innovation; Latin American Culture; Comparative Analysis; Social Systems

Abstract:
The first two Peronist governments (1946-1955) introduced extensive social reforms that notably improved working conditions and systematised vocational training. Thereby the foundations of the Argentine welfare state were laid and the working masses were socially included to an unprecedented degree: thus, they also constituted the majority of Peron's supporters. These reforms were accompanied and buttressed by a purportedly equally innovative set of symbols, in the form of mostly graphic propaganda on leaflets or advertising posters, intended to disseminate political ideas and educate the Argentine population. Apart from economic implications like fostering industrial progress, the centring of the regime around the figure of the worker, which for the first time appeared within the self-representation of the state, also brought about a redefinition of the notion of citizenship. In conceiving of the Peronist visual propaganda as a means of state-driven education of the Argentine population and thereby taking it up in the realm of educationalist research, this article first focuses on the appropriations and reformulations of local discursive and iconographic traditions within the Peronist propaganda, despite the self-proclaimed novelty of the regime and its visual representations. Second, by comparing it to the propagandistic production of other corporatist welfare regimes of the interwar period, it elaborates the national specificity, as well as transnational entanglements in the staging of welfare policies and the visualisation of the redefined relationship between state and citizens. (Contains 59 footnotes and 13 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Access to Information; Program Effectiveness; Foreign Countries; Intention; Internet; Access to Computers; Developing Nations; Public Opinion; Government Role; Technological Advancement; Innovation; Surveys

Abstract:
Building public Internet access points (PIAPs) is a significant contribution of governments towards achieving an information society. While many developing countries are investing great amounts to establish PIAPs today, people may not use PIAPs effectively. Yet, the successful implementation of PIAPs is the result of citizens' acceptance to use this opportunity. Hence, based on the Diffusion of Innovation Model, this study aims to detect the determinants of behavioural intention to use PIAPs. Essential data were collected from 3477 users of BELNET PIAPs established by the municipality of Istanbul in Turkey. We found that observability, compatibility and relative advantage all positively impact the intention to use PIAPs. The results reveal academic and practical implications for the future development and implementation of PIAPs. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Pathology; Grief; Attachment Behavior; Patients; Innovation; Cooperation; Surveys; Periodicals; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Psychotherapy

Abstract:
In the last few decades, grief and loss research in the psychological domain has focused almost exclusively on its dysfunctional nature. I examine what is underneath these questions about pathology and suggest that our discipline is suffering from an attachment wound where we have dissociated from our historical roots when it comes to the study of grief and loss. I argue that we need to ask new questions about grief and loss and present two examples of my collaborative work to illustrate innovative ways of thinking about and researching grief. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Agricultural Occupations; Attitudes; Rural Extension; Technical Assistance; Experience; Innovation; Information Systems; Case Studies; Focus Groups; Semi Structured Interviews

Abstract:
Purpose: Malawi's current extension policy supports pluralism and advocates responsiveness to farmer demand. We investigate whether smallholder farmers' experience supports the assumption that access to multiple service providers leads to extension and advisory services that respond to the needs of farmers. Design/methodology/approach: Within a case study approach, two villages were purposively selected for in-depth qualitative analysis of available services and farmers' experiences. Focus group discussions were held separately with male and female farmers in each village, followed by semi-structured interviews with 12 key informants selected through snowball sampling. Transcripts were analysed by themes, and summaries of themes were made from cross-case analysis. Findings: Farmers appreciate having access to a variety of sources of technical advice and enterprise-specific technology. However, most service providers continue to dominate and dictate what they will offer. Market access remains a challenge, as providers still emphasize pushing a particular technology to increase farm productivity rather than addressing farmers' expressed needs. Although farmers work in groups, providers do not seek to strengthen these to enable active interaction and to link them to input and produce markets. This limits farmers' capacity to continue with innovations after service providers pull out. Poor coordination between providers limits exploitation of potential synergies amongst actors. Practical Implications: Services providers can adapt their approach to engage farmers in discussion of their needs and work collaboratively to address them. At a system level, institutions that have a coordination function can play a more dynamic role in brokering interaction between providers and farmers to ensure coverage and responsiveness. Originality/Value: The study provides a new farmer perspective on the implementation of extension reforms. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Athletics; Physical Activities; Friendship; Innovation; Ethnography; Cooperation; Creativity; Group Dynamics; Commercialization; Social Theories; Social Influences; Improvement; Communities of Practice; Professional Development; Collegiality; Social Environment

Abstract:
Farrell's (2001) theory of collaborative circles provides a useful frame for analyzing the interpersonal dynamics that enable creative collaboration in small groups, but it leaves contextual factors of collaboration undertheorized. Using ethnographic data on freestyle BMXers in Greenville, North Carolina, this article demonstrates how resource mobilization theory's conception of resources can specify the enabling and constraining aspects of a circle's environment in a theoretically satisfying way. Specifically, I find that the enabling interpersonal dynamics found by Farrell rely on distinct arrangements of material, moral, and what I term locational resources. During the formation stage, a welcoming skatepark and moral support from the local community afforded the group the space and time it needed to unite, articulate a common vision, and produce dramatic innovations in their sport. During the separation stage, increased resources from the commercialization of freestyle BMX influenced both the separation of the circle and the production of the scene that followed. (Contains 3 figures and 9 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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