Nature Versus Nurture

This article aims to highlight the different facets of the relative socio-economic underdevelopment of the Greek region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. It explores initially regional analysis data, leading to the conclusion that the region does indeed face comparative weaknesses as it exhibits multiplier results and specialization in areas with the lowest value-added and employment. It then presents the main conclusions about small and micro firms of this less developed business ecosystem. It concludes that the region has structural competitiveness problems that are primarily due to the competitiveness of the firms that can host and nurture. The strengthening of competitiveness of this regional business ecosystem requires the improvement of the innovative potential that, in a triple helix condition, is the result of the evolutionary interconnection between local-regional firms, government, and academia. To this end, the proposal to establish a Local Development and Innovation Insti...

This paper identifies the factors affecting user satisfaction for the successful application of Smart-education in national defense recently at the national level and suggests the political implications through the empirical research to nurture creative talents globally. The study model was designed by setting the influencing factors on the user satisfaction of smart education. In order to verify the reliability of the measurement item, it was calculating the coefficient Cronbach's α and validity was verified by carrying out factor analysis. The empirical results of this doctoral dissertation as a Smart-education, factors affecting user satisfaction, content, management, internal organization, user characteristics, such as classified into five areas detailed factors as independent variables correlation analyzes were carried out factors influencing the most effective impact on training and user satisfactions were tested.

ABSTRACT
In an education system, school heads need to be trained on regular basis to implement and get resuls from new changes- introduced by the Government to form
new policies and strategies to get better outcomes.The professional competence of head-teachers play a pivotal role in the school development at secondary
level. this study was designed to find various professional competencies asciated with the head teachers of secondary schools. The study was qualitative in
nature. The participants of the study were 15 head teachers, working in public sector secondary schools, randomly selected from Tehsil PindDadan Khan,
District Jhelum. Semi-structured interview was used to collect the data. Data was analyzed through thematic analysis technique (Seldana, 2015). The factors
found were categorized into two, first the professional competency and second the leadership transformation. Overall, the school head-teachers’ competence,
the school supervisor competence, work motivation for teachers and performance of teachers are in the middle category. The study found that the competency
of school head-teachers really affects the teacher’s motivation and confidenc. It also improves the overall performance of both teachers and headteachers.

Globalization and knowledge have no frontiers. The objective of this article is to develop a proposal for the internationalization of Ecuadorian universities research projects. The aim of this proposal is to achieve universities with international exposure and immersed on research processes. These will nurture them with experiences and knowledge in the benefit of society. Such benefit is crystalized through education and research, which is feasible with agreements, subscriptions, international networking, and formation of researchers that could step up Ecuadorian universities into international rankings in regards to scientific production and research. These rankings improve prestige and positioning. The internationalization of Ecuadorian universities’ research projects is a challenge that requires joint strategies. The universities and the State are both responsible for these strategies and should work in collaboration for a successful implementation.

This study examines Ahmad Tohari's Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk and Bekisar Merah to formulate a concept of prophetic feminist pedagogy grounded in women's bodily experience. Rather than treating the female body as a passive cultural object, the study positions it as an epistemic locus through which moral meanings are produced, contested and reimagined. Using qualitative textual analysis informed by theories of embodiment, gender performativity and prophetic imagination, the research analyzes how bodily suffering becomes a site for ethical reflection within the narrative structure of the novels. The findings reveal three interrelated epistemic processes: wound, agency and moral imagination. First, the wounds experienced by Srintil and Lasi expose the failure of customary norms, religious morality and capitalist aesthetics to protect women's dignity. Second, these bodily experiences generate forms of agency that interrupt dominant gender scripts and challenge social definitions imposed on women's bodies. Third, the emergence of moral imagination enables the characters-and readers-to envision alternative ethical horizons beyond systems that commodify or regulate the female body. Through this process, Tohari's fiction functions not only as a representation of gender injustice but also as a pedagogical space in which ethical values are tested through lived bodily experience. This study contributes to feminist literary criticism and Indonesian literary studies by proposing that prophetic feminist pedagogy can be conceptualized as an educational model where the legitimacy of moral values is verified through women's embodied experiences.

This paper aims to analyze the immunity factor of Acehnese loyalty to the ulama. Generally, if the ulama fail to respond to problems that arise in modernity, they are abandoned by society. Modernization is taking place very quickly in Aceh. In Aceh, even though the ulama were unable to respond to modernity, they were never abandoned by the community. The type of modernization that is the focus of the author's observation is development, politics, and economics which includes banking and trade. Using a qualitative approach, this study finds, that is in Aceh, precisely because the ulama do not respond to modernity, the immunity of loyalty to the ulama can continue. In Aceh, secular-minded society, they give authority to experts in their respective fields. Because the ulama are treated as religious experts, then when they do not respond to other fields such as development, politics, economics and other fields, they become respected. Although only given space in the field of religio...

Amelia (9) and Lola (7) walk up to the "Kid Lift" at the Children's Museum of Houston. They each sit on a tractor seat that is fastened to an upright beam, attach seatbelts around their waists, grab the knotted ropes in front of them, and begin to hoist themselves up the beam as their parents watch. Despite being stronger, Amelia strains to lift herself up, exerting much more effort than her sister. Chagrinned, she points this out to her parents. Her dad asks "Why do you think this is happening -What do you think is going on?"

Questions of inclusivity and transformation are central in higher education. In South Africa, these imperatives have the additional weight of post-apartheid redress. Attempts to address these questions seldom contemplate how transformation will be achieved. Efforts to achieve transformation often don't attend to the critical question of how to nurture relationships among academics. We argue that building trust and a sense of belonging expands notions of academic development and transformation. In this article we discuss the Next Generation Professoriate (NGP), a mid-career academic development initiative at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Building human connections was an intentional part of this initiative's transformative process. The programme emphasized global South location as a commonality as it sought to encourage new forms of knowledge production and collaboration.

This study investigates how inner speech practice, facilitated by checklists, can be used to nurture the English discussion fluency of Japanese university students, addressing challenges posed by silence in Japanese classrooms King, 2013a; Stroud, 2017a). Integrating innovative methods to enhance cognitive and utterance fluency, the study utilizes checklists centered on speech acts for silent mental rehearsal, self-assessment, and discussion task fluency development. Positive student responses reveal motivation, increased confidence, and a desire for future checklist use. However, nuanced perspectives underscore the necessity for further investigation. The study highlights the efficacy of checklists in improving English proficiency, self-assessment, and sentence creation, fostering interaction. However, students' preferences for more guidance, freedom, practice, adaptable difficulty, writing activities, and increased interaction time offer avenues for instructional refinement. Pioneering an integrative inner speech checklist approach, this study contributes to the discourse on spoken task fluency in Second Language Acquisition (SLA). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-SA license.

This article reports on a descriptive study carried out in articles published in the Profile: Issues in Teachers’ Professional Development journal that deal with inclusive education in English language teaching in Colombia. The study embraced documentary research and critical discourse analysis which helped us identify trends in pedagogical approaches in foreign language instruction and research approaches employed by the journal’s authors. It also allowed us to examine how such approaches show the presence or absence of inclusive education both in public policies and pedagogical interventions by institutions and individuals. We hope that the outcomes derived from this study nurture further discussion, encourage research, and motivate pedagogical practices that foster inclusive education in foreign language teaching and teacher education.

How important is recruiting to a football program's success? While prior research has attempted to answer this question, we utilize an extensive panel set covering 13 years of games along with a two-stage least squares approach to investigate the effects of recruiting on team success. This article also includes new control variables to account for omitted variable bias that prior work may have missed. We also split our sample to investigate whether recruiting displays heterogeneous effects across schools. Additionally, we find evidence that the benefits of recruiting are driven by team-specific effects, indicating that team success may be more heavily derived from the ability of teams to harness and improve their recruits than their ability to utilize each athlete's raw abilities. This leads to important revelations regarding future research into both the value of recruits and what drives a football team's success.

Апстракт: Бајке, као књижевна врста, за децу су од великог значаја, јер представљају погодан медијум за истраживање и откривање. Код детета могу подстаћи развој когнитивних вештина, концентрације, емоционалне интелигенције, самопоуздања, емпатије и сарадње са вршњацима и одраслима. Бајке су драгоцене и за развој маште и фантазије код детета, за развој говора и обогаћивање речника. Могу допринети успешном остваривању задатака моралног васпитања, као и развоју позитивног става према другим културама. Имајући наведено у виду, али и значај музичког и уопште уметничког образовања за формирање мотивисаних и креативних појединаца оспособљених за примену стечених знања, у раду се разматра интеграција бајке у процес музичког образовања ученика млађег школског узраста. Циљ рада је да се представе могућности интегрисања бајке у наставу музике, с обзиром на то да је блиска деци и да постоји њена природна повезаност са музичким садржајима и активностима. На крају рада дати су предлози за интеграцију бајке у наставу музике. Међутим, требало би напоменути да интеграција бајке у музичко образовање захтева компетентног учитеља који препознаје и повезује музичке и књижевне садржаје стварајући подстицајну средину за учење и развој  ученика.

Кључне речи: музичко образовање, бајка, интегративна настава, ученик, основношколски узраст, учитељ

У васпитању и образовању деце млађег школског узраста велики значај и утицај требало би дати традиционалној музици. Кроз програмске садржаје наставе музичке културе ученици уче о наслеђу, а самим тим уче да поштују и негују српску и традиционалну музику других народа. Упознавање са традиционалном музиком у настави музичке културе један је од начина да се допринесе развијању свести о културним и националним добрима, те развијању осетљивости за њихово неговање и поштовање. У раду је представљено истраживање које је обухватило 671 учитеља из свих округа Републике Србије. Циљ истраживања је да испита мишљења учитеља у вези са статусом традиционалне музике у млађим разредима основне школе. Коришћене су метода теоријске анализе и дескриптивна метода. Резултати показују да се садржаји традиционалне музике практикују у већој мери, али учитељи такође сматрају да постоји потреба да се на часовима музичке културе укључи више ових садржаја. Када је у питању навођење конкретних традиционалних садржаја који се користе у настави, приметно је да се у различитим регионима негују садржаји који су везани за традицију локалне средине. Испитаници сматрају да ученици имају позитивне реакције према традиционалним садржајима, али да они нису на првом месту када су у питању дечија интересовања. Налази истраживања могу бити основа за промишљања о унапређењу курсева сталног стручног усавршавања запослених у просвети, али могу бити и подстицај за прикупљање и публиковање литературе са садржајима традиционалне музике да би се олакшао и унапредио рад учитеља и процес учења код ученика.

Кључне речи: српска традиционална музика, настава музичке културе, садржаји традиционалне музике, ставови учитеља, основношколски узраст

Апстракт: Рад се бави анализом уџбеника за наставни предмет Музичка култура за млађе разреде основне школе, са циљем да се утврди у којој мери они доприносе јачању националног идентитета ученика. Како би резултати били релевантни, анализирани су уџбеници више издавача. Извршена је квантитативна анализа садржаја и идентификовани су они који су у вези са подстицањем развоја националног идентитета. Такође, анализирана је дидактичко-методичка апаратура која прати основни текст, а која је у вези са националним идентитетом. Издвојени су сликовни садржаји и опште информације које тумаче песме или композиције за слушање. Резултати истраживања указују да садржаја који доприносе јачању националног идентитета у уџбеницима за Музичку културу нема у довољној мери, да су веома мало праћени сликовним садржајима, док општe информацијe скоро да и не постоје.

Кључне речи:национални идентитет, музичка култура, уџбеници, сликовни садржај, опште информације.

Под дечјим музичким стваралаштвом подразумева се активност детета да у области музике створи нешто ново, без обзира да ли је то ново створено деловањем спољашњег света или под дејством извесних расположења и осећања. Будући да је повезана са дечјим потребама и представља њихово специфично задовољавање, доприноси стицању и унапређењу социјалних вештина, опажања и разумевања емоционалних стања, развијању креативних способности, проширивању искуства, управо игра представља активност у којој деца могу спонтано да се изражавају и стварају. Изводећи музичке игре дете се ангажује слушно, гласом, покретом и емотивно и због тога је ова активност значајна за развој дечјег музичког стваралаштва.
С обзиром да се стваралаштво може дефинисати у односу на три опште категорије: 1) производ; 2) процес и 3) извођаштво, у раду се разматрају различите теорије и дефиниције стваралаштва, васпитно-образовне вредности дечје игре, као и њени утицаји на подстицање и развој музичког стваралаштва деце предшколског и млађег школског узраста. У завршном делу рада дати су примери музичких игара које се могу користити за подстицање и унапређење дечјег музичког стваралаштва..
Кључне речи: дечје музичко стваралаштво, игра, музичка игра, предшколски и млађи школски узраст, васпитно-образовни процес.

Апстракт: Музичко образовање, као грана уметничког образовања, једна је од најважнијих димензија савременог образовања. Кроз музичко образовање ученици стичу знања и способности везане за музику, али се подстиче и њихов интелектуални, физички и психо-моторни развој, развој језика, те емоционални и друштвени развој. У модерном образовном приступу, ученик је у центру пажње. Стога би методе и приступи савременог образовања требало да код ученика олакшају учење, развијају креативност и подстичу истраживање и да учине да активно учествује у процесу учења и стицања знања.
Истраживања су показала да ученици, када су окружени богатим перцептивним окружењем које пружа велики избор слушних и визуелних искустава, постају мотивисани да уче музику. Управо богатство и разноликост садржаја које одликује приступ Карла Орфа (песме, риме, игре, плесови и инструменталне композиције, Орфови инструменти, приче), може се искористити као значајно средство за унапређење учења у области музике. Током активности, где наставник има водећу улогу, ученици су увек активни кроз слушање, певање, импровизацију, ритам и плес. Такође, наставник води ученике кроз неколико фаза развоја: истраживање, имитацију, импровизацију и композицију. Овај метод се може интегрисати у музичко образовање у основним школама, тако да ученици стичу могућност да се изражавају самоуверено, да буду креативни и унапређују сопствена знања у области музике. У раду су дати предлози садржаја и активности из Орфовог приступа који могу бити интегрисани у основношколско музичко образовање и на тај начин га унапредити.
Кључне речи: Orff Schulwerk приступ, музичко образовање, музичка култура, млађи основношколски узраст, ученик.

Апстракт: Слушање музике и опажање и разумeвање музичког дела комплексни су процеси који зависе од многих фактора. На то како ће музичко дело бити прихваћено и схваћено, у великој мери утичу узраст, музичко искуство, припрема пред слушање, као и сама реализација дате активности, односно методски поступци који се користе у оквиру наставе музике. Опажање и разумeвање музичке форме представља апстрактан, један од тежих задатака пред децом и ученицима, уколико не постоји припрема пред слушање музике, објашњење, или корелација са другим областима. Такође, опажање музичке форме, само по себи, најкомплекснија је ментална активност која укључује, поред способности музичке перцепције деце/ученика и когнитивну обраду података, односно способност апстрактног музичког мишљења. Циљ рада је да се истражи на који начин деца на предшколском и млађем школском узрасту опажају и разумеју музичку форму одређених композиција уз претходну припрему пред слушање музике. Истраживање је спроведено на узорку деце предшколског узраста и деце првог и другог разреда основне школе. Резултати су показали да деца са више слушалачког искуства и она код којих су пре активности слушања музике били укључени интердисциплинарни садржаји боље препознају музичку форму.
Кључне речи: слушање музике, музичка форма, перцепција и рецепција музичког дела, предшколски и млађи школски узраст.

Апстракт: Област слушања музике представља фундаменталну активност у процесу музичког образовања, али и образовања уопште. Циљ наставног процеса у овој oблaсти јесте да код ученика рaзвије кaпaцитет пaжњe и способност активног слушања (са задатком), чиме се рaзвиja и музичкa мeмoриja. Слушањем музике ученици доживљавају снажне музичке утиске, али и уче на који начин да запажају, разликују и разумеју изражајна средства музике, као и како да разумеју музику. У раду је представљено истраживање спроведено на узорку ученика трећег и четвртог разреда три основне школе у Ужицу (n = 406), чији је циљ био да испита њихово мишљење у вези са слушањем музике на часовима Mузичке културе. У истраживању су коришћене дескриптивна и метода теоријске анализе, а од истраживачких техника анкетирање и анализа садржаја. Резултати показују да ученици немају прилику да слушају музику на сваком часу Музичке културе и да би волели да у настави Музичке културе ова активност буде заступљена у већој мери. Такође, велики проценат ученика изјаснио се да на часовима Музичке културе више воли да слуша инструменталне композиције у односу на дечје песме. Закључак доноси питање о начину реализације активности слушања музике у млађим разредима основне школе, а методичке импликације се односе на потребу за систематичним приступом активности слушања музике да би се остварили циљеви наставе музичке културе.
Кључне речи: (активно) слушање музике, ученик, млађи разреди основне школе, настава Музичке културе, музичке преференције.

The creative process for Make-up-artists is an integral part of their creative practice. Therefore, innovative pedagogical approaches should be adopted to nurture creativity and the creative process within this field of study. Media and technology can play a significant role in facilitating the teaching of creativity if used in partnership with traditional teaching methods. This study supports current research into the field of creativity and the creative process whilst drawing attention to how social and cultural influences guide the learning and teaching of creativity. To show this, this study takes a closer look at the teaching in make-up-artistry. This brings to light that ethics must be incorporated into the learning and teaching of the creative process. To acknowledge the existence of different viewpoints, I chose action research, ethnography and evaluation as design frames for research; selecting twenty-nine learners and twenty-nine stakeholders working across education and t...

The creative process for Make-up-artists is an integral part of their creative practice. Therefore, innovative pedagogical approaches should be adopted to nurture creativity and the creative process within this field of study. Media and technology can play a significant role in facilitating the teaching of creativity if used in partnership with traditional teaching methods. This study supports current research into the field of creativity and the creative process whilst drawing attention to how social and cultural influences guide the learning and teaching of creativity. To show this, this study takes a closer look at the teaching in make-up-artistry. This brings to light that ethics must be incorporated into the learning and teaching of the creative process. To acknowledge the existence of different viewpoints, I chose action research, ethnography and evaluation as design frames for research; selecting twenty-nine learners and twenty-nine stakeholders working across education and the creative industries in Scotland.

Responses to COVID-19 impacts have shown how quickly universities can change, given the impetus. However, global disruptions to university learning and teaching have not yet been matched by any significant change to university leadership. Taking gender equity as our focus, we argue that pedagogical disruption should extend beyond the classroom to reshape academic leadership. In this commentary we critically reflect on the question ‘How can university leaders share power to nurture caring and ethical academic leadership’? Taking some cues from disruptions to university learning and teaching, we call on the work of bell hooks to propose a holistic vision of university leadership as a form of critical pedagogy — ‘engaged pedagogy’. We draw on combined experience in professional and academic roles at six universities in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to share composite vignettes of holistic leadership practices grounded in integrity, collaboration and personal wellbeing. Our comment...

This research explores the impact of Design Thinking (DT) on Organizational Behaviour, explicitly focusing on individual employees, the micro-level of the organization. The research runs a single-case study within an Italian bank adopting DT through its HR department. The study proposes a model illustrating how DT adoption influences specific individual behavioral constructs: motivations, attitudes, capabilities, and creative behaviors. The study finds that fostering confidence in the creative process enhances human engagement and proactivity.

There is no doubt that a free and fair election is a sine qua non for electoral democracy, but not every election fulfils these criteria. Against this premise this paper attempts to explore theoretical postulations vis-à-vis elections. With brief introductory remarks emphasising the importance of elections to democratic sustenance and consolidation, the paper proceeds to examine the democratic utility of elections in all regions and climes and the misconception that elections held regularly are an end in themselves and not a means to an end. The third section dwells on the necessary prerequisites for the conduct of a free and fair election, thereby bringing out the peculiar existential reality of African politics. The paper infers that democratic sustenance via elections may not be easily attainable until African politicians become democrats themselves. This is not unconnected with the fact that no polity can nurture democracy until democrats evolve.

This study explored the lived experiences of junior high school science teachers in overcoming challenges related to the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in classroom instruction. Anchored in a qualitative phenomenological design, the research involved eleven (11) purposively selected teachers from a public secondary school in Leyte Division. Data were collected through open-ended questionnaire responses and analyzed using the phenomenological approach of Clark Moustakas (1994), focusing on identifying significant statements, clustering themes, and deriving the essence of participants’ experiences. Findings revealed that teachers exhibit varying levels of AI competence, ranging from developing to skillful utilization, with many prioritizing practical applications over technical expertise. Key challenges identified include limited technological resources, concerns about the quality and reliability of AI outputs, and issues related to academic integrity. Additionally, insufficient training and lack of hands-on experience hinder effective AI integration. Participants emphasized the need for continuous, practical training, collaborative learning environments, and access to advanced technological resources. The study highlighted the gap between policy expectations and actual classroom practices, underscoring the importance of sustained professional development and institutional support to enhance teachers’ competence and confidence in integrating AI into science education.

For much of the 20th century scientific psychology treated the relative contributions of nature and nurture to the development of phenotypes as the result of two quite separate sources of influence. One, nature, was linked to biological perspectives, often manifest as "instinct", while the other, nurture, was taken to reflect psychological influences. We argue that this separation was contingent on historical circumstance. Prior to about 1920, several perspectives in biology and psychology promoted the synthesis of nature and nurture. But between 1930 and 1980 that synthetic consensus was lost in America as numerous influences converged to promote a view that identified psychological and biological aspects of mind and behavior as inherently separate. Around 1960, during the hegemony of behaviorism, Daniel Lehrman, Gilbert Gottlieb, and other pioneers of developmental psychobiology developed probabilistic epigenesis to reject predeterminist notions of instinct and restore a synthesis. We describe the earlier and later periods of synthesis and discuss several influences that led to the separation of nature and nurture in the middle of the 20th century. history | instinct | inheritance of acquired characteristics | probabalistic epigenesist |

The key focus of this study was to examine the impact of financial literacy as a moderating variable between perceived relative advantage and intention to adopt Fintech. In addition, the study investigated other key drivers of Fintech adoption, including perceived organizational readiness, perceived competitive pressure, perceived security, and facilitating conditions, and their influence on SMEs' behavioural

This thesis presents an evangelical theology of the child in the context of American evangelicalism and affluence. Employing an eclectic theologicalcritical method, a theological anthropology of the AAEC is developed through an interdisciplinary evangelical engagement of American history, sociology and economics. The central argument is that affluence constitutes a significant impediment to evangelical nurture of the AAEC in the 'discipline and instruction of the Lord' (Eph 6:4). Thus, nurture in evangelical affluence is the theologicalanthropological problem addressed in the thesis. The issue of 'lack' raised by Matthew's rich young man (Mt 19:20) provides the biblical-theological focal point for developing an evangelical theology of the AAEC in chapter 5， the heart of the thesis. The conclusion reached is that nurture in the cultural matrices of the evangelical affluence generated by technological consumer capitalism in the บ,ร. impedes spiritual and moral formation of the AAEC for discipleship in the way of the cross, risks disciplinary formation of the AAEC for capitalist culture, cultivates delusional belief that life consists in an abundance of possessions and hinders the practice of evangelical liberation of the poor on humanity'ร underside. This constitutes the AAEC's spiritual-moral 'lack' in late modernity. Following chapter I's introduction and overview, chapters 2 and 3 provide a diachronie lens for the theological antføopology of the AAEC through critical assessment of the theological anthropologies of the child in Jonathan Edwards, Horace Bushnell and Lawrence Richards. The syncfeonic perspective of the thesis is provided by chapter 4'ร evangelical sociology of the AAEC, drawing upon William Corsaro'ร theory of 'іпіефгейуе reproductions', and chapter 5'ร evangelical theology of the AAEC developed through theological critique of John Schneider'ร evangelical theology of affluence. Chapter 6， 'Whither the AAEC?', concludes with a recapitulation of the thesis and.a. forecast of possible futures for the AAEC in the twenty-first century.

El presente artículo busca generar una discusión conceptual sobre las diferencias y similitudes entre la Nueva Gestión Pública, NGP y la post Nueva Gestión Pública, P-NGP, especialmente en lo atinente a las prescripciones propuestas en términos de reforma de los aparatos administrativos públicos. La pregunta guía indaga por los factores que explican la emergencia a partir de la segunda mitad de los años 90, de enfoques P-NGP, y cuáles permiten referenciar dichos enfoques como continuidad o como ruptura con respecto los enfoques de la NGP. 

With the expansion of industrialisation and rapid development of economy in China, migration of the rural population to the urban areas in seek of employment has resulted in changes in the family structure and increased number of left-behind children (LBC) in China. Numerous studies on LBC have concluded the critical issues among the children related to their overall well-being and their performance at school. The current study aimed to investigate the impact of emotional, cognitive and behavioural engagement of the LBC on the academic achievement of the left behind children. Quantitative research method was used and the sample were 186 leftbehind children in Henan Province, China. To measure school engagement, the instrument developed by Finlay (2006) was used. Correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between the various predictors and academic achievement. The findings concluded that emotional, cognitive and behavioural engagement of the LBC at school were significantly correlated with academic achievement. The hierarchical regression findings concluded that emotional engagement (β= .268; t= 3.593, p<0.000, cognitive engagement (β= .245; t= 3.284, p<0.000 and care takers (β= .132; t= 2.009, p<0.05) were significant predictors of academic achievement of the LBC.

Understanding the dynamical behavior of many-particle systems both in and out of equilibrium is a central issue in both statistical mechanics and complex systems theory. One question involves "nature vs. nurture": given a system with a random initial state evolving through a well-defined stochastic dynamics, how much of the information contained in the state at future times depends on the initial condition ("nature") and how much on the dynamical realization ("nurture")? We discuss this question and present both old and new results for lowdimensional Ising spin systems.

Reputation is thought to differentiate organizations and help explain variability in their performance. A recent study contributed to knowledge about the reputation-performance relationship by depicting reputation as having two dimensions and linking each dimension to the prominence and performance of U.S. business schools. The authors propose an alternative approach that draws on the resource-based view (RBV) wherein reputation is an intangible asset that is composed of complementary and reinforcing relationships whose synergies create causal ambiguities that have positive performance implications. The authors also test a direct effect of faculty experience on prominence. Their results support the merit of the RBV model, indicating that it offers greater explanatory power. The findings suggest that reputation cannot be bought by additive and independent investments. Instead, enhancing a reputation requires managers to carefully nurture interdependencies and complex relationships. The findings also provide new insights about the determinants of business school reputation.

Reputation is thought to differentiate organizations and help explain variability in their performance. A recent study contributed to knowledge about the reputation—performance relationship by depicting reputation as having two dimensions and linking each dimension to the prominence and performance of U.S. business schools. The authors propose an alternative approach that draws on the resource-based view (RBV) wherein reputation is an intangible asset that is composed of complementary and reinforcing relationships whose synergies create causal ambiguities that have positive performance implications. The authors also test a direct effect of faculty experience on prominence. Their results support the merit of the RBV model, indicating that it offers greater explanatory power. The findings suggest that reputation cannot be bought by additive and independent investments. Instead, enhancing a reputation requires managers to carefully nurture interdependencies and complex relationships. T...

Reputation is thought to differentiate organizations and help explain variability in their performance. A recent study contributed to knowledge about the reputation-performance relationship by depicting reputation as having two dimensions and linking each dimension to the prominence and performance of U.S. business schools. The authors propose an alternative approach that draws on the resource-based view (RBV) wherein reputation is an intangible asset that is composed of complementary and reinforcing relationships whose synergies create causal ambiguities that have positive performance implications. The authors also test a direct effect of faculty experience on prominence. Their results support the merit of the RBV model, indicating that it offers greater explanatory power. The findings suggest that reputation cannot be bought by additive and independent investments. Instead, enhancing a reputation requires managers to carefully nurture interdependencies and complex relationships. The findings also provide new insights about the determinants of business school reputation.

(1) Background: It is widely agreed that mutual partnerships between school staff and parents of students are key to creating robust frameworks of inclusive education for students with disabilities. This study explores special education teachers' perceptions of involving parents of students with disabilities in mainstream schools in Jordan. (2) Methods: This research employs a descriptive quantitative method in the form of a Google-Forms-based online questionnaire with closed-ended questions. (3) Results: The findings indicate that parents were moderately involved in the education of their disabled children; that these parents perceived teachers and school principal to be instrumental in encouraging their involvement in this respect; and that parents face many obstacles to such involvement in their children's education. (4) Conclusions: The findings point to a need for policymakers to create legislation that enables and mandates the involvement of parents with children with disabilities in inclusive education settings in order to implement constructive models of parental involvement where parents can be treated as equal partners in the educational process.

In recent times Spiritual Direction has grown in popularity amongst lay people seeking to nurture their own spirituality. This trend has given rise to an increased enrolment of people seeking to train as Spiritual Directors. This study aims to identify key factors underpinning the learning processes in a spiritual direction curriculum program that is part of a graduate course offered by an Australian University. Having identified the factors, the researcher will assess its effectiveness in forming spiritual directors, from the perspective of participants involved in the program. This qualitative study was based on the insights of adults who are already qualified spiritual directors trained in this particular spiritual direction formation program or are current participants in the same program. Their perceptions of the course were drawn upon to investigate the impact of their curriculum program on the formation of spiritual directors. Unstructured in depth interviews were utilized to...

O ver the past few years, heightened interest in the field of social paediatrics in Canada has been due in large part to paediatric initiatives and leaderships in Montreal, Quebec, including the career example of Gilles Julien (1), and McGill University's and the University of Montreal's social paediatrics programs (2,3). The connection and link between child health and the social context in which children live has long been documented, going back to the days of Virchow (1821Virchow ( to 1902)). More than the father of pathology, "Virchow was an impassioned advocate for social and political reform, stating that physicians should act as 'attorneys for the poor'" (4), illustrating how medical or scientific skill success does not preclude and, in fact, requires that the individual and population's social context be effectively addressed. The first professor of childhood diseases in the United States, the president of the American Medical Association and a social reformer, Abraham Jacobi (1830 to 1919), is described as the father of paediatrics (5), with a founding role in the initiation of the American Pediatric Society and a "quintessential physician advocate" (6). The European Society of Social Pediatrics and Child Health (ESSOP) was founded in Sweden over 30 years previously, in 1977, because paediatricians showed an interest

O ver the past few years, heightened interest in the field of social paediatrics in Canada has been due in large part to paediatric initiatives and leaderships in Montreal, Quebec, including the career example of Gilles Julien (1), and McGill University's and the University of Montreal's social paediatrics programs (2,3). The connection and link between child health and the social context in which children live has long been documented, going back to the days of Virchow (1821Virchow ( to 1902)). More than the father of pathology, "Virchow was an impassioned advocate for social and political reform, stating that physicians should act as 'attorneys for the poor'" (4), illustrating how medical or scientific skill success does not preclude and, in fact, requires that the individual and population's social context be effectively addressed. The first professor of childhood diseases in the United States, the president of the American Medical Association and a social reformer, Abraham Jacobi (1830 to 1919), is described as the father of paediatrics (5), with a founding role in the initiation of the American Pediatric Society and a "quintessential physician advocate" (6). The European Society of Social Pediatrics and Child Health (ESSOP) was founded in Sweden over 30 years previously, in 1977, because paediatricians showed an interest

Diseases of modernism, rather than infectious diseases and chronic medical conditions, increasingly cause childhood morbidity and mortality. Thus, the goal of enhancing life outcomes for all children has become imperative. Paediatricans may begin with a renewed interest in social paediatrics - the care of the disadvantaged child in Canada, requiring a focus on all the complex factors that impact families and the community. New paediatricians need the tools to impact both social determinants of health and political policies to support health for all. Such interest is as old as the field of paediatrics (social medicine began with the great pathologist, Virchow, in the 1800s). The new neuroscience of experience-based brain and biological development has caught up with the social epidemiology literature. It is now known from both domains that a child&#39;s poor developmental and health outcomes are a product of early and ongoing socioeconomic and psychological experiences. In the era of...

This study provides a comprehensive sociological exploration of happiness among older adults in Pakistan, drawing on a diverse array of socio-cultural factors. Utilizing a mixed-method approach that combines in-depth interviews and thematic analysis, the research investigates the multifaceted dimensions of happiness, with particular emphasis on the satisfaction with meeting physiological demands, the generational shift from collectiveness to individuality, the role of social support and family, and a comparative analysis with the younger generation&#39;s perspectives. Key findings reveal the paramount importance of good health and basic health facilities in achieving happiness, with close family ties and economic stability acting as significant contributors. The intricate interplay between joint and nuclear family structures sheds light on the complex dynamics of personal freedom, independence, and the value of positive relations within the family. The study further uncovers the lin...

This study examines the meaning of the shepherd's sacrifice in John 10:11-15 by highlighting the close relationship between sacrifice and relational presence. Interpretations of the statement "the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" are often confined to a soteriological horizon, referring primarily to Jesus' death on the cross. Through narrative and lexical exegesis, this study demonstrates that the Gospel of John constructs the meaning of sacrifice within the framework of a shepherding relationship marked by presence, mutual knowing, and faithfulness to the flock. By employing a psychological biblical interpretation approach, the shepherd-sheep metaphor is read as a depiction of a relationship that responds to existential vulnerability, in which the shepherd's presence fosters a sense of security and relational attachment. Christological elaboration affirms that such presence constitutes an integral expression of Jesus' identity as the Good Shepherd, rather than merely a pastoral function or strategy. The critique of the "hired hand" figure reveals that authentic shepherding is determined by the quality of relationship rather than by the continuity of function or structure alone. This study also outlines the theological and pastoral implications of understanding sacrifice as presence for contemporary church ministry.

Urban and metropolitan colleges and universities can play an important role in innovative, equitable community revitalization. This is especially true for universities that also function as anchor institutions; there is both a challenge and an opportunity for such urban anchors to conduct their work in a manner that engages the community proximate to campus and improves the lives of its residents. This paper presents the Promise Parent Leadership Academy (PPLA) and Clemente Veterans’ Initiative (CVI) Newark as two examples of how an urban, postsecondary anchor institution can establish and nurture hyperlocal initiatives to improve outcomes for underserved residents. PPLA and CVI Newark, established in 2017 and 2019, respectively, have emerged as novel, impactful, and scalable initiatives that move beyond the typical one-way flow of intellectual capital generated within the confines of a university. Instead, PPLA and CVI Newark actively engage community members in meaningful, intelle...

This article was originally published in the International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edition, published by Elsevier, and the attached copy is provided by Elsevier for the author's benefit and for the benefit of the author's institution, for non-commercial research and educational use including without limitation use in instruction at your institution, sending it to specific colleagues who you know, and providing a copy to your institution's administrator.

Persistent gaps in the licensure performance of teacher education graduates in the Philippines raise urgent concerns about the alignment and effectiveness of pre-service teacher preparation. This study employed a descriptive quantitative research design utilizing archival data from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) on Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) pass rates from 2014 to 2018, focusing on both the elementary and secondary levels. The objective was to analyze national passing rates, year-on-year changes, and comparative trends between Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEEd) and Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSEd) programs. Key findings revealed a declining trend in BEEd pass rates, reaching a low of 20.05% in 2017, while BSEd pass rates steadily improved, peaking at 41.46% in 2018. The performance gap widened sharply, from 0.95 percentage points in 2014 to 19.69 in 2018, indicating systemic deficiencies in elementary teacher education. Year-on-year trends showed volatile shifts in BEEd outcomes, particularly a significant-32.54% drop in 2017, compared to a more stable pattern of positive gains in BSEd, such as +14.74% in 2015 and +10.16% in 2017. These disparities underscore the need for differentiated, datainformed reforms, including strengthened curricular alignment, institutionalized pre-licensure diagnostics, enhanced practicum quality, and structured in-house review programs, particularly for BEEd tracks. Furthermore, this study affirms the need for targeted and systemic recalibration of teacher education programs to foster equitable licensure success and ensure high-quality classroom instruction in both elementary and secondary education.

While the influence of nature (genes) and nurture (environment) on elite sporting performance remains difficult to precisely determine, the dismissal of either as a contributing factor to performance is unwarranted. It is accepted that a complex interaction of a combination of innumerable factors may mold a talented athlete into a champion. The prevailing view today is that understanding elite human performance will require the deciphering of two major sources of individual differences, genes and the environment. It is widely accepted that superior performers are endowed with a high genetic potential actualised through hard and prodigious effort. Heritability studies using the twin model have provided the basis to disentangle genetic and environmental factors that contribute to complex human traits and have paved the way to the detection of specific genes for elite sport performance. Yet, the heritability for most phenotypes essential to elite human performance is above 50% but belo...

Corporations increasingly engage with open source software communities in the co-creation of software. This collaboration between corporate professionals and open source software community members is strikingly different from the early days of software development where forprofit firms attempted to dominate and control the industry while attempting to throttle the success of independent developers offering an alternative, open source option. While many metaphors like trading zones, common pool resources and ecosystems have helped understand the phenomenon, the metaphors do not portray what the industry was like before and after the transition. We adopt a postcolonial metaphor as an analytical lens to examine such collaboration based on qualitative data gathered over three years from executives, managers and developers within corporations that engage in open source software development. Drawing on these insights, we then theorize a "Third Design Space," based on the concept of the third space proposed by Bhabha. This metaphor encourages the cultivation of a new design environment, creation of new design associations and circulation of shared design resources. Together these practices and behaviours make it possible to nurture innovative methods and new rituals for designing software