Major Reform Research Articles

Rethinking student teachers' professional learning in Wales: Promoting reflection‐in‐action

AbstractNearly forty years ago, Stenhouse argued that the function of the curriculum was to stimulate teachers' everyday reflection about and learning from practice. This suggestion, alongside his support for teachers as researchers, aligns with the Welsh Government's commitment to build an evidence‐informed profession as part of ongoing major education system‐level reforms, including the implementation of the new Curriculum for Wales from September 2022. University initial teacher education (ITE) partnerships are playing an important role in building collaborative research capacity. This paper describes a case study of one such partnership which aims to promote research‐informed, reflective practice among its postgraduate primary student teachers. We use one of Stenhouse's principles of empirical study to frame our discussion of how student teachers' reflective practice is supported through brief conversations with their teacher educators (mentors) during lessons. Using a mixed methods approach, the findings show that student teachers value in‐the‐moment feedback. The intervention also helps them to question aspects of teaching and learning, although such reflection is at a technical level. Our study is useful for teacher educators who are interested in supporting reflective practice through coaching and mentoring. It also cautions school leaders and policymakers implementing major curriculum reforms not to lose sight of Stenhouse's view that ‘it is teachers who, in the end, will change the world of the school by understanding it’. The paper concludes by discussing the research implications in shaping emerging practice and policy in the context of ongoing system‐level reform and curriculum implementation in Wales, with potential applicability and portability to other contexts and jurisdictions.

The making and unmaking of opportunity: educational mobility in 20th‐century Denmark

AbstractWe examine trends in intergenerational educational mobility throughout the 20th century in Denmark. We demonstrate that major reforms in compulsory schooling substantially increased not only the levels of education but also intergenerational mobility in education for children born in the 1940s through to the 1960s. However, even as college education has expanded significantly for children born in the 1970s and 1980s, educational mobility has been declining. We empirically test different mechanisms that could account for this decline in educational mobility.

Drawing up the public national Rational Pharmacotherapy Action Plan as part of social and health services reform in Finland: a bottom-up approach involving stakeholders

BackgroundEnsuring equal access to medicines and their appropriate and safe use at reasonable costs are core functions of health systems. Despite that, few descriptions of national medicines policies' development processes and implementation strategies have been published. This study aimed to describe the government program-based development of the Rational Pharmacotherapy Action Plan in Finland as a part of the undergoing major health and social service system reform, also covering the implementation of rational pharmacotherapy in the reformed system and processes.MethodsThe data of this qualitative study consisted of public reports and Steering Group meeting memos related to the development of the national Rational Pharmacotherapy Action Plan that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health coordinated. Qualitative content analysis applying systems theory and the conceptual framework of integrated services as theoretical frameworks was used as an analysis method.ResultsThe national Rational Pharmacotherapy Action Plan covering 2018–2022 was created in a bottom-up development process involving a wide range of stakeholders. Rational pharmacotherapy was redefined by adding equality as the fifth pillar to complement the previously defined pillars of being effective, safe, high-quality, and cost-effective. The Action Plan formed a normative framework for long-term development, with a vision and principles focusing on people-centeredness, better coordination and management of the medication use processes, the continuity of treatment paths and the flow of patient and medicines information through partnerships, and evidence-informed policies and practices.ConclusionThrough intensive stakeholder participation, the bottom-up approach created a national vision and principles of rational pharmacotherapy along with strong commitment to implementing the goals and measures. The concern lies in ensuring the continuity of the Action Plan implementation and achieving a balanced long-term development aligned with the integrated and reformed national social and health services system. The development of the pharmaceutical system has several national and EU-level dependencies requiring political long-term commitment. While the Action Plan differs from the national medicines policy, it forms a good basis for long-term development covering important parts of medicine policy at the micro, meso, and macro levels of the service system.

Towards a shared understanding of the learning health system in a large academic-based health system: A qualitative analysis.

Healthcare delivery is currently undergoing major structural reform, and the Learning Health System (LHS) has been proposed as an aspirational model to guide healthcare transformation. As efforts to build LHS take considerable investment from health systems, it is critical to understand their leaders' perspectives on the rationale for pursuing an LHS and the potential benefits for doing so. This paper describes the qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews (n = 17) with health system leaders about their general perceptions of the LHS, description of key attributes and potential benefits, and perception of barriers to and facilitators for advancing the model. Participants universally endorsed the goal of the local health system aspiring to become an LHS. Participants identified many recognized attributes of LHS, though they emphasized unique attributes and potential benefits. There was also heterogeneity in participants' views on what to prioritize, how to structure the local LHS within existing initiatives, and how new initiatives should be implemented. Improving conceptual clarity of attributes of the LHS would improve its potential in guiding future reform.

Духовенство калмыков-казаков Дона во второй половине XIX – начале ХX вв.

Introduction. The article reveals the issues of the organization of the service of the Buddhist clergy on the Don in the second half of the 19th century, implemented during the reform of the administrative and territorial administration of the Kalmyk nomad. In this sense, this article is a continuation of the article published in the previous year in the 3rd issue of the scientific journal “Mongolian Studies”. The purpose of the article is to show the socially useful activities of the Buddhist clergy, its introduction into the administrative management system of the Don Army region, its role in the development of education, the complete, final transition of the Don Kalmyks to a settled life and management. Results. A major reform of the land system in the Kalmyk nomad and the service of the Buddhist clergy with a change in the status of its main hierarch occurred in the 1870s. The Buddhist clergy experienced its consequences during the war and social upheavals together with its people.

Towards a Regionally Responsive Network implementation challenges in New Zealand’s reforms to vocational education

New Zealand has been undertaking major reform of its vocational education sector since 2019. Changes have been extensive, including the establishment of a national delivery body (Te Pūkenga), and the formation of workforce development councils, regional skills leadership groups, centres of vocational excellence, and a coalition of expert Māori advisors (Te Taumata Aronui). While a new government is reconsidering these structures, including stating a commitment to disestablish Te Pūkenga, it is timely to explore the key policy issues facing the vocational education sector. Accordingly, this case study considers how best to balance local and national interests. We suggest changes to ensure that the sector is well structured, governed and funded, and meets the needs of the communities it serves.

The “China Model”— Merits and Demerits, A Review of the Last 20 Years of the Chinese Economy

The “China Model,” which combines Chinese Communist Party (CCP) dictatorship with the use of a market economy, has been a long-term growth driver of the Chinese economy, but its content has undergone a transformation in terms of both governance and economic policy. In the early 2000s, competition among local leaders who were given sizeable discretionary authority led to dramatic regional growth but also produced various side effects. In the 2010s, however, a transformation to investment competition through debt occurred in local governments, resulting later in a real estate bubble and local fiscal crisis. The adverse effects of the Xi Jinping regime’s concentration of power have created balance sheet deterioration caused by years of excessive debt and overinvestment. The Chinese economy is now being forced to liquidate its deteriorated balance sheets, which have been weakened by years of excessive debt and overinvestment. The ineffective investments and the interest payments resulting from “implicit guarantee” by the governments have become a heavy burden on the economy, further distorting the distribution of wealth and leading to a slump in consumption. To break the current deadlock, major reform is needed, including the write-off of non-performing assets, which would bring about deflationary pressure, and the reduction of the role of state-owned enterprises, a change so significant that it would reshape the “form of the nation.” However, this would inevitably clash with President Xi Jinping’s pledge for “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” a promise made to secure his extended tenure. Given that an extraordinary concentration of power is centered on President Xi and the Chinese autocratic system lacks a mechanism for regime change, achieving such reforms will be very difficult.

Mapping critical minerals projects and their intersection with Indigenous peoples' land rights in Australia

Vastly increased quantities of minerals and metals are needed to scale up renewable energy technologies. Indigenous peoples globally are voicing concerns about how this will affect the speed and scale of mining and renewable energy development on their lands and territories. In this paper, we delineate areas of Australia where Indigenous peoples' interests in land are formally recognised under legislation. These areas are overlayed with critical minerals project information to calculate intersections across 14 commodities. Our results show that 57.8 % of critical minerals projects are located where Indigenous peoples have a right to negotiate. Including native title claims, these rights are available for 79.2 % of critical minerals projects. We argue that critical minerals policies must consider Indigenous peoples' rights and interests in land upfront – not as an afterthought. To date, Indigenous peoples have not shared equitably in the wealth generated by mining Australia's mineral endowment. Inequitable outcomes will continue without major policy reform.

Diversity Balance in Centralized Public School Admissions

Parental choice over public schools has become a major educational reform throughout the United States and the world. Most district policies are implemented via admission priorities. Diversity in admissions is a common policy goal. However, it necessitates the violation of some priorities. We develop an axiomatic theory for meeting diversity objectives with a reserves system. We axiomatize the trade-off between diversity and priorities. We characterize the solution that uniquely and optimally achieves the diversity objectives via reserves by minimizing priority violations. The choice rule corresponds to a simple and natural implementation of application orders in a reserves system.

基于职业核心素养的技师学院机电一体化专业课程改革策略研究

With the reform and development of modern vocational education, vocational core quality has become the key element of the training of skilled and applied talents, which not only directly affects the employment development of students, but also is closely related to the education level of vocational colleges. Therefore, in the teaching of mechatronics in technician college, teachers should carry out curriculum optimization and teaching reform around the professional core quality, so as to focus on cultivating students’ comprehensive quality such as vocational skills, knowledge base, professional ethics and innovative spirit, so as to lay a solid foundation for students’ sustainable development. In this context, this paper carries out research, through analyzing the characteristics of mechatronics major development in technician school under the guidance of vocational core accomplishment, and then puts forward the strategy of mechatronics major curriculum reform in technician college based on vocational core accomplishment.

Early Clinical Simulation Exposure May Enhances Academic Performance of Medical Students: A Quasi-Experimental Study in Saudi Arabia

Purpose: The traditional medical curriculum in Saudi Arabia needs to undergo major reforms to make it more student-centric, relevant, interesting and contemporary. This unmet need can be fulfilled by the use of “Early Clinical Exposure “(ECE) techniques, employed via simulation based medical education (SBME) courses, integrated into the medical curriculum. This study delivered ECE via SBME, to third year pre-clinical students, and assessed its impact on their fourth-year academic scores. Materials and Methods: SBME modules designed by expert faculty members were delivered through a peer-assisted learning model, spread over a three-week period, at a well-equipped medical simulation laboratory at our teaching hospital, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Students who attended this SBME intervention were tracked for their performance in their fourth year, versus the control group. Result: Of the 401 third year students included in the study, only 30.2% consented to attend the SBME course, while 69.8% comprised the control group. The overall study population obtained a mean score of 40.27 in the fourth-year final examination. The male and female students who attended the SBME module obtained a statistically significantly higher mean score versus the non-attendees (p=0.0018). Among the SBME course attendees, no statistically significant difference was noted between the scores of males and females (p=0.187). Conclusion: SBME exposure during the pre-clinical years has a significantly positive impact on the performance of students, in the core clinical years at medical college. It holds promise in reducing redundancies in medical education, making medical studies more interesting, relevant, contemporary and practical. It facilitates seamless transition of students from pre-clinical to clinical years in medical college. Implementation of early SBME courses at the pre-clinical level, mandated and supported by government initiatives, would be a huge step forward in the medical education in Saudi Arabia.

The well-being and work-related stress of senior school leaders in Wales and Northern Ireland during COVID-19 "educational leadership crisis": A cross-sectional descriptive study.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused far-reaching societal changes, including significant educational impacts affecting over 1.6 billion pupils and 100 million education practitioners globally. Senior school leaders were at the forefront and were exposed to particularly high demands during a period of "crisis leadership". This occupation were already reporting high work-related stress and large numbers leaving the profession preceding COVID-19. This cross-sectional descriptive study through the international COVID-Health Literacy network aimed to examine the well-being and work-related stress of senior school leaders (n = 323) in Wales (n = 172) and Northern Ireland (n = 151) during COVID-19 (2021-2022). Findings suggest that senior school leaders reported high workloads (54.22±11.30 hours/week), low well-being (65.2% n = 202, mean WHO-5 40.85±21.57), depressive symptoms (WHO-5 34.8% n = 108) and high work-related stress (PSS-10: 29.91±4.92). High exhaustion (BAT: high/very high 89.0% n = 285) and specific psychosomatic complaints (experiencing muscle pain 48.2% n = 151) were also reported, and females had statistically higher outcomes in these areas. School leaders were engaging in self-endangering working behaviours; 74.7% (n = 239) gave up leisure activities in favour of work and 63.4% (n = 202) sacrificed sufficient sleep, which was statistically higher for females. These findings are concerning given that the UK is currently experiencing a "crisis" in educational leadership against a backdrop of pandemic-related pressures. Senior leaders' high attrition rates further exacerbate this, proving costly to educational systems and placing additional financial and other pressures on educational settings and policy response. This has implications for senior leaders and pupil-level outcomes including health, well-being and educational attainment, requiring urgent tailored and targeted support from the education and health sectors. This is particularly pertinent for Wales and Northern Ireland as devolved nations in the UK, who are both implementing or contemplating major education system level reforms, including new statutory national curricula, requiring significant leadership, engagement and ownership from the education profession.

The struggle for industrial democracy in Sweden: A sociological macro-meso analysis 1960–2020

Sweden has the reputation of being one of the most progressive countries in the world concerning work-life development and industrial democracy. In this article, an analytical overview of the development in these areas is provided, which includes the antecedents, major events, actor positioning and also the broad-term outcomes. Two major reform movements are described: one aiming to create a radically different work-life where workers control their own work with a power balance between labour and capital, and one a reformist movement aiming to create a degree of co-determination and a more engaging work-life without any major changes in power relations. The case shows that the radical movement was not able to generate radical change and that the reformistic movement achieved only partial success. The outcome over time has been a decreased interest in work-life development where co-determination practices are heavily institutionalized but perhaps do not provide better conditions for workers than in many other advanced industrial countries with a lesser degree of formal co-determination.

Leveraging intellectual property: The value of harmonized enforcement regimes

This paper examines the role of intellectual property (IP) law as a determinant for external debt financing of innovative firms. For identification, we exploit exogenous variation in patent right enforcement arising from the 2004 EU Enforcement Directive. This major policy reform strengthened IP rights and, thus, raised patent owners' asset position. We find that patenting firms significantly increase their use of debt and benefit from lower interest rates in response to the amendment, especially if they own valuable patent portfolios. These effects are most pronounced for relatively small and financially constrained firms, emphasizing the importance of the legal framework in fostering debt financing activities of innovation-oriented firms.

From Laggard to Innovator: Barbara Fruchter and the 1970s-Era Movement to Deinstitutionalize Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice

Abstract: Using diverse archival sources and oral history interviews, this essay examines how volunteer activist women in the 1970s galvanized support to pass major legislative reforms that made Pennsylvania a model for how to implement the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) of 1974 at the state level. Horrified by conditions they witnessed on a tour of a nearby juvenile detention center, three Philadelphia area women created a broad-based coalition—centered in the Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) of Pennsylvania—to improve local conditions of confinement and spearhead novel policies to transform juvenile justice statewide. Focusing on Barbara Fruchter, JJC cofounder and de facto leader of the state’s deinstitutionalization campaign, this essay probes how a now well-accepted idea in juvenile justice—treating the great majority of delinquent youth in small community-based rather than large institutional programs—was first envisioned and introduced into American juvenile justice a half-century ago.

Research on Teaching Reform of New Energy Major Under the Background of College Students’ Innovation and Entrepreneurship

With the change in social environment, the new energy industry has been undergoing rapid development, at the same time, the demand for new energy talents is increasing day by day. For higher education, how to train high-quality new energy talents has become a critical issue. Starting from the background of innovation and entrepreneurship, this paper discusses the significance of the new energy major teaching reform, analyzes the problems existing in the new energy major, and puts forward targeted teaching reform strategies to accumulate experiences for the training of new energy talents in colleges and universities.

Digital blueprints for the urban future: a study on the transformation of urban planning with examples from China and Singapore

Digital technology is one of the most important topics of research today. The rapid development of digital technology has caused major reforms in urban planning and other fields. This digital method is widely used in data collection and artificial intelligence, helping urban planners collect and analyze data more efficiently, thereby making the city operate and develop better. It also enhances citizen participation through online platforms and mobile applications, helping to build a more inclusive and sustainable city. This study mainly evaluates the impact of the combination of digitalization and urban planning, especially in terms of traffic management and public life. This article aims to explore how a combination of digitalization and urban planning can be used to create a more efficient, democratic, and sustainable urban environment. This study uses case analysis and systematic review methods to explore in depth the impact of digital technology and urban planning on urban traffic management and residents' lives. The research results show that a good combination of digital technology and urban planning transforms the efficiency of urban operations and the quality of life of residents, improves the sustainable development of the city, and enhances the efficiency and democracy of urban intelligence. This combination is expected to continue to affect the future development of the city and will bring more opportunities and challenges to urban planning.

Impact of an oral care subsidization reform on intersectional inequities in self-rated oral health in Sweden

BackgroundOral health in Sweden is good at the population level, but seemingly with persisting or increasing inequities over the last decades. In 2008, a major Swedish reform introduced universal partial subsidies to promote preventive care and reduce the treatment cost for patients with extensive care needs. This study aimed to apply an intersectional approach to assess the impact of the 2008 subsidization reform on inequities in self-rated oral health among adults in Sweden over the period 2004–2018.MethodsData from 14 national surveys conducted over 2004–2018 were divided into three study periods: pre-reform (2004–2007), early post-reform (2008–2012) and late post-reform (2013–2018). The final study population was 118,650 individuals aged 24–84 years. Inequities in self-rated oral health were examined by intersectional analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy across 48 intersectional strata defined by gender, age, educational level, income, and immigrant status.ResultsOverall, the prevalence of poor self-rated oral health decreased gradually after the reform. Gender-, education- and income-related inequities increased after the reform, but no discernible change was seen for age- or immigration-related inequities. The majority of intersectional strata experienced patterns of persistently or delayed increased inequities following the reform.ConclusionsIncreased inequities in self-rated oral health were found in most intersectional strata following the reform, despite the seemingly positive oral health trends at the population level. Applying an intersectional approach might be particularly relevant for welfare states with overall good oral health outcomes but unsuccessful efforts to reduce inequities.

A Study of Global Trade War and Its Impact on Indian Economy

A Study of Global Trade War and Its Impact on Indian Economy

The Inclusion Paradox: Why Inclusive Space Excludes Migrant Children, and Vice Versa

What characteristics of space predict exclusive policies? Intuitively, socioeconomically exclusive spaces – such as wealthy urban centers in China – would also be exclusive in welfare provision. Drawing from cross-district comparisons within a Chinese metropolis, we identify a counterintuitive pattern where the urban center had easier migrant school access policies than the urban fringe. This pattern has existed in both the 2010s and 2020s, surviving a major school admissions policy reform. We call this pattern the inclusion paradox. The inclusion paradox can be attributed to two causes: a compartmentalization of school access along urban district boundaries, and a tendency of fringe districts to carry more migrant population with less fiscal capacity. As a result of the inclusion paradox, migrant children were more likely excluded from school access precisely where they were more likely to live. The inclusion paradox implies that policy exclusion and spatial exclusion substitute each other, a pattern that brings migrant school access in China in conversation with unequal school access in other contexts.