Holistic Reform Research Articles

The Web of Financial Regulation: Banking Crises, Symbiotic Rules, and Holistic Reform

The Web of Financial Regulation: Banking Crises, Symbiotic Rules, and Holistic Reform

Book review: all through the town: the school bus as educational technology

Book review: all through the town: the school bus as educational technology

Environmental Justice and Education: Bridging the Gap between Ecology, Equity, and Access

This study delves into the complex relationship between ecology, equity, and access, emphasizing the need for an integrated approach to address pressing environmental and societal challenges. Environmental disparities disproportionately affect marginalized communities, shaping their educational access and outcomes. These disparities are exacerbated by factors such as economic status, location, and policy biases, perpetuating a cycle of environmental and socio-economic inequality (Bullard, 1993). To mitigate these issues, various initiatives have been introduced to integrate environmental education into the academic curriculum, emphasizing interdisciplinary research, technology utilization, and community engagement. The National Curriculum Framework in India advocates for the inclusion of environmental concepts across subjects, aligning with global efforts to enhance environmental literacy (UNESCO, 2017). Additionally, community-based programs and advocacy campaigns have emerged to sensitize individuals, particularly the youth, about their role in achieving a sustainable and equitable future. Moving forward, holistic reforms encompassing policy advocacy, inclusive infrastructure development, and community empowerment are imperative to bridge the gap effectively. By fostering a culture of environmental consciousness, equitable resource distribution, and inclusive education, we can envision a society where every individual has equal access to a clean environment and the opportunity to prosper sustainably.

Intrinsic Teacher Practice to Holistic Public School Reform – SDGs Project 1 Report

This article is a report on the development of a model for public school organization and curriculum as a foundation for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) practice, undertaken as part of the “Project to Promote ESD” commissioned by the National Commission for UNESCO of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The project, led by Shizuoka University, is carried out by the ESD Hooripu, a framework study group that links public schools to holistic reform through intrinsic teacher practice for ESD. The project aims to construct a theoretical framework to support educational and school reform in local authorities from an ESD perspective, using Social Impact Management/Logic Model as a perspective for change. It also focuses on developing teachers’ Ecological Teacher Agency (ETA) through workshops, training sessions, and evaluation support. The outcomes of these efforts are validated through a comprehensive evaluation. Overall, this article highlights the importance of intervention in the project, aiming to empower teachers to enhance their expertise and actively engage in educational reforms. The utilization of a logic model approach is crucial for sharing and aligning visions and aspirations for education in schools and communities, transcending mere outcome evaluation and leveraging it as a tool for educational policy.

Greening consumer welfare

The present paper seeks to provide a global perspective on commercial greenwaching practices by first identifying its principal characteristics and forms. Then, it examines some prevalent issues susceptible to harm the greening consumer welfare, with views of suggesting solutions in support of a more global policy-making perspective which the latest European reforms on sustainability reflect. A holistic reform is proposed, stepping beyond the traditional framework and rationale of consumer protection rules. The paper advocates the need for some further consideration regarding the extraterritorial effect of EU law, as well as the introduction of costs and benefits redistribution, EU credits transfer and tolerance schemes into the circular economy. It also propones the enhancement of auto- regulation, transparency and reporting to strengthen the accountability of businesses in the context of their professional diligence.

FINANCIAL LIBRALISATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH NEXUS: AN EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE OF NIGERIA [1970 – 2020

The theorists of financial liberalization believed that the removal of government control in the operation of the financial system will lead to the development of the system which thus translates to the economic growth of a given economy. However, over the past three decades that the policy was implemented in Nigeria, the financial sector still cannot mobilize the required funds for public and private investment; hence the economy still remained grossly undeveloped. In view of this therefore, this study was designed to examine the effectiveness of financial liberalization in economic growth of Nigeria from 1970 to 2020. The required data for the study were sourced from various sources including Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin and Annual Reports, and the World Bank Development Indicators among others. To eliminate the problem of spurious regression in the study, the technique of Phillips-Perron unit root test was employed. In addition, the long-run equilibrium relationship in the exogenous series was tested with the ARDL Bounds Test. More so, the Diagnostics tests of Jarque-Bera, Breusch-Godfrey Serial Correlation LM and Breusch-Pagan-Godfrey were also employed to test normal distribution, autocorrelation and Heteroskedasticity in the data, while Wilcoxon Test Statistic investigated the change in the pre and post deregulation periods. The findings revealed that official exchange rate and one period lag of real interest rate are positively and significantly related to the economic growth, while real interest rate without lag has negative and significant relationship on the economic growth of Nigeria. It was further revealed that credit to private sector and inflation rate have negative coefficients. Lastly, the study showed a significant change in gross domestic product per capita and official exchange rate in the pre- and post-liberalization peiods. We therefore recommend that a holistic reform that will strengthen the entire Nigerian financial system should be carried out immediately, in addition to creating enabling macroeconomic environment that will make private investment to thrive.

PAKISTAN: AXING THE ROOTS. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC MARGINALIZATION AND RISE OF MILITANCY IN PAKISTAN’S FEDERALLY ADMINISTERED TRIBAL AREAS

Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, a region lying on the boundary between Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province and southern Afghanistan, controlled by the Federal Government of Pakistan, has been in the public eye following the event of the United States invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The spate of the rise of militancy and insurgencies in FATA currently poses a serious threat to the political stability of Pakistan and Afghanistan respectively. Relying on the documentary methods of data collection and analysis, therefore, this study argues that the major factor underlying the prevailing militancy in FATA is the deep-seated political and socio-economic marginalization of the region. The study thus recommends, among other measures, that the Government of Pakistan needs to expedite actions to initiate and implement deliberate and well articulated holistic reforms to bring the region into the mainstream of Pakistan’s socio economic and political developmental agenda. The study concludes that the intentional and proper adoption and application of these measures would be a realistic way of ending the militancy and insurgency in FATA and achieving lasting peace in the region and Pakistan as a whole. Keywords: Governance/Politics, Economy, Marginalization, FATA, Militancy, Religion.

Teacher readiness to implement learning through play in Ukrainian primary schools: a preliminary study

The article examines the problem of teachers' professional readiness to implement play-based, activity-based learning methods and the “learning through play” approach in Ukrainian primary schools in the context of holistic reform of school education - the introduction of the New Ukrainian School Concept.
 The modern school reform, which was introduced in 2018, brought changes to all aspects of education in Ukraine, however, it was mainly focused on the approach of teaching and learning. A new educational strategy based on the integrative approach of “learning through play”, which combines the principles and methods of active learning, experimental learning and guided discovery learning, inquiry learning, problem-based and project-based learning, and Montessori pedagogy, was introduced in the professional activity of primary school teachers.
 The results of the conducted research indicate that the vast majority of interviewed Ukrainian primary school teachers showed an insufficient level of professional readiness for the introduction of play-based and activity-based learning methods due to: a negative attitude to play in education; their insufficient awareness of the developmental, didactic and other functions of the play in the comprehensive development of a person at all stages of his/her life; the dominance of an authoritarian style of communication with students, etc. It was found, that there is an apparent contradiction between the predominantly high level of self-esteem of primary school teachers of their own readiness to implement play-based learning methods and a negative attitude towards the need to change their professional activity.
 The difficulties, revealed by the results of the research, provide the basis to make corrections in the system of higher and postgraduate pedagogical education in order to develop Ukrainian school education based on the principles of priority of the individual needs of the child, the competence approach, partnership and a safe educational environment

The Greek Urban Policy Reform through the Local Urban Plans (LUPs) and the Special Urban Plans (SUPs), Funded by Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)

The lack of defined land uses in most parts of Greece (80%) has led to multiple environmental problems and phenomena of informal (arbitrary) construction with secondary side effects, such as a lack of basic technical and environmental infrastructure, unfair competition among private investors, the strengthening of climate change (increase in the number of urban diffusion) and the decline of natural and cultural resources. The Greek urban policy, over the last 100 years, has not succeeded in limiting these problems and for that reason the new Law 4759/2020 is expected to promote the development of a more efficient spatial planning system reform implemented through the Local Urban Plans (LUPs) and the Special Urban Plans (SUPs) that are funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). These programs will contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage and to the development of productive activities at both local and national levels, especially on the sectors of renewable energy sources, the circular economy, and the construction of “green” materials, digital applications and products etc. LUPs and SUPs are related to the holistic reform of the national urban policy and the relevant planning system that horizontally affects a wide range of policy areas such as: environmental protection and adaptation to climate change (for natural ecosystems and biodiversity; agriculture; forestry; fisheries; water resources; coastal zones), built environment and development, protection of historic sites and buildings, allocation of the public infrastructure, allocation of investments etc. The General Secretariat of Spatial Planning and Urban Environment Ministry of Environment and Energy has the main responsibility for the implementation procedures of all the proposed actions that will start in 2022 and will end in 2026. This paper focuses on the analysis of the current urban policy reform in Greece and the reasons that this reform is considered an immediate necessity in the current Greek urban legislative framework and the expected outcomes of LUPs and SUPs, which are examined in the literature for the first time, contributing to research on the present EU planning systems.

Issues of Practising Lesson Study for Learning Community in Vietnam

It has been around 15 years since the commencement of lesson study for the learning community (LSLC) in Vietnam. It started at several pilot schools in Bac Giang province, and today it is practised all over the country. While some pilot schools emerged with high-quality practices, the speed of actual changes in the practices still remains slow. This is because, as the author has found, the following conceptions persist among the policymakers, school leaders and teachers: (a) LSLC requires changing teaching techniques; (b) LSLC is a lesson demonstration, and (c) LSLC is a one-day event. This article addresses these conceptions and argues that LSLC should be considered a fundamental, long-term, and holistic school reform approach based on democratic principles and excellence. To overcome these limitations, it is critical for the practitioners, researchers and policymakers to have networks to share their experiences, be informed about the practices and theories, and research into LSLC more deeply – to even learn from the practitioners and researchers in other countries too.

Strides for aberrations: The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 of India

The article evaluates the provisions of the newly introduced Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 by the government of India. As a holistic reform package for the electricity sector is coming after a long time, the bill deserves scrutiny regards its merits and other issues raised by various stakeholders. This article is an attempt to assess the bill with a focus on its implications for India's electricity sector. It examines the major features in the bill including the Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO), the establishment of ECEA, enhanced payment security mechanism, the distribution Sublicense model, and the reforms in electricity pricing and subsidy system in the country. The repercussions of revamps in electricity pricing and subsidy system on farming communities and free electricity programs in many states incited opposition from stakeholders. It is found that the bill attempts to trespass the limits of the quasi-federal system in India, where it affects certain privileges of the state governments. The paper concludes that persisting crisis in the operations of the current regulatory paradigm in the electricity sector deserves a comprehensive renovation, but the abortive approach of the Bill on certain critical issues of the sector needs to be addressed.

Linking Public School to Holistic Reform through the Intrinsic Teacher Practice: Report of SDGs Project 1

Linking Public School to Holistic Reform through the Intrinsic Teacher Practice: Report of SDGs Project 1

The Nexus Between Undergraduate and Graduate Reforms

AbstractAimed at Ph.D. programs in German, this article offers a broad framework to discuss the urgent issues facing our programs to stem the tide of (possible or even likely) disinvestment in German in times of fiscal hardship. Many conversations on suitable reforms tend to be held separately by different stakeholders – teaching‐focused faculty or language directors and research‐focused faculty or graduate directors respectively. This article proposes to tackle reforms in undergraduate and graduate education in tandem, as we enhance undergraduate programs and socialize our graduate students in this student‐focused effort in the hope of stimulating more ideas and concrete individualized plans to strengthen programs within their specific institutional contexts. The focus for the readership of Die Unterrichtspraxis is on improving undergraduate education coupled with robust cocurricular activities and on educating graduate students by emphasizing graduate students' role as teachers within the institutional learning environment. The other dimension is to build strong competencies in (educational) technology and digital literacy for both undergraduate and graduate students. In their role as future faculty members, graduate students will be the stewards of ongoing holistic reform that dynamically and nimbly adjusts to changing geopolitical and market conditions facing German.

A Better Madden Fix: Holistic Reform, Not Band-Aids, to Modernize Banking Law

Historically, state usury laws prohibited lending above certain interest rates, but in 1978 the Supreme Court interpreted the National Bank Act (NBA) to allow chartered banks to issue loans at rates based on where they were headquartered rather than where the loan originated. States like South Dakota virtually eliminated interest rate ceilings to attract business, incentivizing national banks to base credit operations there and avoid local usury laws. In 2015, however, the Second Circuit decided Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC and reversed long-standing banking practices, ruling that non-chartered financial institutions were not covered by the NBA and were therefore subject to state usury laws where the loan originated. The underlying reasoning for the court’s decision was well-intentioned and based on (a) an unwillingness to allow non-chartered institutions to function as pseudo-banks and (b) a desire to protect consumers. The court’s radical decision received widespread criticism, and empirical studies have demonstrated a noteworthy decrease in credit availability in the Second Circuit—negating the court’s own policy rationales. Since Madden, Congress and federal agencies have attempted an outright reversal, but none of their solutions address the Madden court’s fundamental concerns. This Essay argues that a Madden fix is needed, but the most effective solution must incorporate and address the Second Circuit’s underlying concerns.

Designing 21st Century Language Learning Scenario in Indonesia: A Perspective from Computer-Assisted Language Learning

The integration of international quality assurance standards into Indonesian higher education curricula, together with the enactment of the New Standard of Higher Education (NSHE), are creating new and significant pressures on the curriculum renewal as well as the reconstruction of course syllabus design in foreign language departments in Indonesian universities. Just like any other units (courses) in foreign language departments in Indonesia, Academic Writing course at English Language Teacher Education (ELTE) is impacted by the new government policies. Latest research suggest that both curriculum renewal and syllabus development project are integral part of the quality assurance system where it focuses on the transparency and accountability in curriculum design and delivery. The key elements of the course syllabus that are made transparent and accountable, for instance, gives hints at the shifting knowledge structures, the use of new technologies, the emphasis on the development of students’ skills, and the extended responsibility being placed on students for their own learning development. This paper reports how these key elements are inserted into a learner-centred pedagogy of academic writing at ELTE department in Indonesia in order to meet the requirements of the 21 st century learning that are individual, personalized, adaptive, modular, integrated, and non-sequential. The establishment of computer-assisted language learning environment combined with the new pedagogy of academic writing, in essence, opposes the existing traditional approaches to language learning and literacy pedagogy in Indonesia. The entire story presented in this paper is a significant excerpt from the preliminary phase of experiment of a PhD research project conducted in Indonesia. The insights presented in this paper should trigger a holistic reform in language teacher education in Indonesia.

A Critical Reflection on the Rights and Exploitation of Non-Humans in Omo-river Valley (Gibe-III) Areas

The paper explores the critical reflection of the exploitation of the natural environment, specifically forest in Omo-river valley areas. Forests and trees have been destructed and cut down of trees, for charcoal business to fulfill their personal financial/economic interest. The researchers also disclosed the multiple impacts of the cut down of trees and forests for charcoal trade. Hence, the researchers attempts to critically understand and analyze such over exploitation of land and natural environment. In this paper, the researchers explained the genuine causes of the charcoal production beyond the immediate benefit they could get. Accordingly, the researchers found both the anthropocentric and divine approaches of environment problematic and factors for the exploitation of the natural environment. In this paper, the central emphasis is the unwise utilization of the environment for different purpose (which we can call it violation of rights of the non-human creatures from the view point of the biocentrism perspective; the diversified species who live in the area and the destruction of the forest coverage for the sake of temporary economic gain) Generally, to solve the problem the researchers came up with Aldo Leopold’s new environmental argument of the “land ethic” and other apparatuses of environmental conversation. With this regard Leopold’s argument of “land ethic” argued that, our approach towards the land, and natural environment should be those are the environment friendly strategies and holistic reforms to be taken by the government and specifically optional energy sources for the society.

Environmental Protection from Oil Spillage in the Niger-Delta Region of Nigeria: Ogoniland in Perspective

Environmental protection from oil spillage challenges, encapsulates the mechanism put in place by governments for effective and enforceable legislation, to preserve the environment from wanton destruction arising from anthropogenic activities. Individuals, organizations and other stakeholders contribute immensely towards environmental protection, being a practice for all mankind to ensure the environment remains habitable even for future generations. The doctrinal method of research was adopted, utilizing published materials and literature extract from books, journals and data base to identify the challenges of oil spillage in the region and identify specific gaps in Nigeria’s environmental legal framework. The objective of environmental protection includes conservation of the natural environment, mitigation of afflictive conditions as well as restoration and reparation of affected or already damaged areas. Three major factors influence environmental protection: legislation, ethics and education. It is important for societies to develop each of these areas, which together should inform and drive environmental decisions in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Having addressed oil spillage issues and attendant laws in the region, it is evident that environmental protection in the region can become a reality. It is recommended that the time to address this situation is now, so as to give the people of the Niger Delta better hope and a brighter future. In this connection, holistic reforms of relevant laws on the integral oil spillage subject matter should help in providing the necessary solutions.

Financial Structure and Economic Growth: The Nigerian Experience, 1980-2017

This study investigated the role of financial structure in explaining economic growth dynamics in Nigeria using annual time series from 1981-2017. The study employed the vector error correction model (VECM) in the analysis of the data. As lead up to financial structure and economic growth relationship analysis, the competing theoretical views of bank and market based financial system and economic growth were explored. The result of the study showed that economic growth, financial development variables and the underlying control variables are cointegrated. The result of the economic growth effect of financial development showed that stock market and bank-based have a significant effect on growth. This implies that both bank-based and market-based matter in explaining economic growth dynamics. On the relationship between financial structure and economic growth, the study revealed that economic growth, financial structure and the underlying control variables have a long run relationship. The study also revealed that financial structure which captures the combination of stock market-based and bank-based has a positive significant effect on growth. A significant coefficient of financial structure implies that financial structure matters in explaining growth. Therefore, the study posits that the overall financial structure is the most useful way to assess the financial systems since both bank and stock market system matter in explaining economic growth as against bank-based versus market-based debate. Based on the empirical evidence, the study therefore recommends that there should be continuous holistic reforms of both banking and stock market simultaneously, as the development in one sector has a neglect effect on the other.

Regulation reform process and perception in the Palestinian water sector

ABSTRACTThe study analyzes the regulation reform process of the Palestinian urban water sector. It introduces the holistic reform agenda and examines the water supply sector’s performance and regulation challenges. The study also evaluates the perception of water service providers regarding the regulation reforms. Collected evidence indicates a dominant interpretation of the regulation concept based on rules and legislation, coupled with a neglect of aspects like monitoring, economic regulation and managerial accountability. The lack of awareness of the benefits of these aspects for service providers can increase resistance to reform and reduce willingness to participate in implementing comprehensive sector regulation.

An examination of the legal status, powers and roles of the Justices of the Peace in the Nigerian legal system

It is not uncommon to hear of State governments in Nigeria appointing people as Justices of the Peace or of people adding ‘JP’ as a suffix to their names. Justices of the Peace are judicial officers appointed to conserve peace and perform quasi-judicial and administrative functions. They are appointed as officers of the courts and form part of the actors and drivers of the nation’s legal system. However, it appears that, over time, their relevance within the Nigerian context is fading away and that the office is gradually being reduced to political patronage. Consequently, this article seeks to raise awareness of the roles of Justices of the Peace in resolving minor disputes and fostering peaceful coexistence among citizens. It also highlights some of the challenges in the system with the aim of proffering a holistic reform. The article argues that the nature of the appointment and the poor capacity development of Justices of the Peace are the major banes of their effectiveness in Nigeria. Following the comparison of the Nigerian regime with the position in Jamaica, the article recommends how Justices of the Peace can be better equipped to be more effective within the context of the Nigerian legal system.