Union Education Research Articles

Teacher training in the European Higher Education Area: a look at the American model

This paper focuses on providing an explanation of the sense, limits and possibilities of evaluating the students skills and learning processes through the Portfolio. This new evaluation tool has been used for training reflective education professionals since the eighties in the North American education system and has now arrived to our university context under the European Union education guidelines. I insist that the Portfolio may fulfil different functions and adopt different formats but the essential element is that it reflects the students learning processes as well as the skills that the student develops.

Workers' struggle against blacklisting

REPORT□ BLACKLISTING INTHE UK Workers' struggle against blacklisting I campaigners been New academics fall short regulations arguing a long of unions, what have way and for falla longway shortofwhat unions, academics and campaigners have been arguingfor DAVE SMITH, Lecturer In Trade Union Education and former construction worker who was blacklisted asaunion activist In watchdog, uncovered 2009,the the a secret UK Information government blacklist Commissioners oftrade data union protection Office memwatchdog , theInformation Commissioners Office uncovered a secret blacklist oftrade union membersintheconstruction industry. Thecovert database was run by an organisationcalled the Consulting Association that was usedby44 major multinationalbuilding contractorsincluding Carillion, Skanska, Kier, Bam,SirRobert McAlpine, VinciandLaingO'Rourke. Senior managers from thefirms forwarded information aboutunionactivists toa centralised recordingsystem and thedatawas sharedamongst the companies toremove workers from their projects. 3216individuals wereontheblacklist andgiven the sizeandinfluence oftheemployers involved, itis little wonder that many blacklisted workers suffered yearsofunemployment andrepeated dismissals. IURreported thescandalwhenitfirst brokein 2009 and thecampaigning beingundertaken to bring somekindofjustice for theblacklisted workerswhoseliveshadbeen ruined. After twoyears oflobbying, courtcases and changesin legislation ,isjustice anynearer? Following lobbying bytrade unions, lawyers and academicsone oftheverylastactsoftheprevious UK Labourgovernment was theintroduction ofTheEmployment Relations Act1999(Blacklists) Regulations 2010.The processhas been carried outrelatively quickly becausetheregulations were originally drafted in 1999butnotimplemented because oflobbying by employer's associations during the2003consultation processwhichmanagedtostoptheimplementation oftheregulations due to"lackofevidence". In summary, thenewBlacklist Regulations: ■ define a blacklist oftradeunionists and prohibit thecompilation, dissemination and use ofsuchblacklists; ■ makeitunlawful torefuse employment, to dismiss an employeeorotherwise cause detriment toa worker fora reasonrelated toa blacklist; ■ makeitunlawful foran employment agency torefuse a service toa worker fora reason related toa blacklist; ■ provide fortheemployment tribunal tohear complaints aboutallegedbreachesandwitha minimum£5,000 award Whilst thenewregulations area welcomestep forward, they fall a longwayshort ofwhatunions, academics andcampaigners havebeenarguing for. Criticism oftheregulations hasbeenwidespread, including: ■ failure tointroduce a "right" nottobe blacklisted ■ failing tomakeblacklisting a criminal offence ■ regulations beinglimited toonly"official" tradeunionactivity: so beingplacedon a blacklist becauseofa spontaneous walkout overa safety issueorenvironmental campaigning wouldnotbe protected with evena unanimous Motion beingpassedat TUCCongress 2010. Fortheworkerscaughtup in theConsulting Association scandaltheBlacklisting Regulations provide noretrospective compensation. Evenifthe Regulations hadbeeninplaceatthetime, thevast majority would stillhave not been protected becausethey worked for sub-contractors oremployment agencies(commonpractice intheconstructionindustry ) butthelegislation onlyappliesto direct "employees". Themultinational companies whose seniormanagers suppliedtheoften malicious and inaccurate information to theblacklist haveescapedjustice becausethey didnotemploy theworkers directly. Individual blacklist files havebecomethekeyevidence in numerous Employment Tribunal claims for unfair dismissal, failure toappoint anddetriment claims (allrelated totrade union activity orfor health andsafety reasons). Overtwoyears sincethedocuments becameavailable, only three claimants have so farbeen successfulat Tribunal.The three claimants, Acheson, Willis andTattersall, wereawardedadditional "aggravated damages" from the employersbecauseoftheuse oftheblacklist (an award virtually unheard ofinUKTribunal system). Unfortunately, thevastmajority ofEmployment Tribunal claims havenotbeenso successful. Asthe incidents complained about often took placedecades earlier, most caseshavebeenruledas 'outoftime' before evenmaking ittocourt. A harsh interpretationofEmployment Tribunal ruleshasresulted in workers who submitted their claimsonlya few weeksafter receiving their blacklist file being denied accesstoanylegalredress. Evenwhere claimants havemanaged toovercome the time-limit hurdle,mosthave failedon the 'employee status' issueidentified above.Inthecase ofDooleyv Balfour Beatty, thecompany admitted removing Mr. Dooley(anex-bricklayer) from a buildingproject becauseofhisblacklist file(itwas the firm that supplied thefile as part oftheir bundleof evidence). Howeverthe companysuccessfully arguedthattheyhad notbrokenthelaw,as Mr. Dooleywas employed through a bricklaying subcontractor andonly direct employees areprotected byUKunfair dismissal legislation. In2009,Professor Keith Ewing oftheInstitute of Employment Rights produced theRuined Lives report on blacklisting and identified thattheConsulting Association conspiracy almost certainly breached a number ofInternational Labour Organisation standardsandHumanRights conventions. To date, any INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 24Volume 18Issue 3201 1 REPORT□ BLACKLISTING INTHE UK Blacklisted safety reps meet EU Commissioner Anders reference toUKHumanRights ActintheTribunal caseshashadlittle impact on thedecision making oftheTribunals. Instead, retired building workers havebeenforced towithdraw their claims infear that they might incur legalcostsbymultinational companies employing someofthemostexpensive lawyers inthecountry . Whoeversaidmoney doesn't influence justice? Ifthelegalcaseshaveseenlimited success, there appearstobe evenlessimpact on industrial relations practices onbuilding sites. TheLondon2012 Olympics isthemost high-profile construction projectintheworldbutblacklisting has againraised itsuglyheadafter twoelectricians havebeendismissed from the Olympics Media Centre. Management on theproject boastedofdismissing oneworker becausehisnamehadappeared onthe blacklist, thesecondwas sackedafter blowing the whistle aboutthis illegal practice. OnThursday June 302011,a delegation from the Blacklist Support Group heldprivate talks inBrussels with LászlóAndor, European UnionCommissioner withresponsibility forEmployment, SocialAffairs andInclusion todiscuss potential EUwidelegislationtooutlaw blacklisting. Theright tojoina tradeunionand notbe victimised becauseofitis enshrined inArticle 11 of the European Convention onHuman Rights butlack ofanyspecific EU widelegislation against blacklisting ofindividuals forsafety...

The AstroLrner E-Community: A 10 Year Retrospective

Abstract The article briefly describes and documents the development and evolution of the AstroLrner pronounceda-stroh-LEARN-er online Yahoo! community, created by Tim Slater on August 29, 1999, on its 10 yearanniversary. The goal forAstroLrner was to leverage the then emerging social networking technology to build andnurture the nascent community of scholars engaged in improving the quantity and quality of astronomyteaching and learning through education research. Today, known as AstroLrner@CAE, this vibrant e-communityhas nearly 800 subscribers and averages nearly 300 posts per year.In today’s online social networking world of Web 2.0, there exist countless pathways and unlimited opportunitiesfor people to connect, share ideas, and collaborate. It is rare indeed to find individuals without e-mails, cellphone messaging capabilities, and among collegians, there are probably few individuals without a Facebook ora Twitter account. For those individuals self-identifying themselves as members of the scholarship of teachingand learning astronomy community, there exists a large and vibrant Internet-based online network, ore-community, known as AstroLrner pronounced a-stroh-LEARN-er AstroLrner 1999 . Based in the Yahoo!Groups system, today’s AstroLrner e-community, known as AstroLrner@CAE, has nearly 800 subscribers.As of its 10 year anniversary, there have been 2771 messages posted over the past 10 years, varying considerablyin length and nature, but almost always constructed as a threaded sequence of a sincere plea for assistanceand a series of considerate responses. Unquestionably, AstroLrner@CAE is the current epicenter of socialnetworking for the teaching and learning of astronomy.Upon its 10 year anniversary, it seems appropriate to pause and consider some of the history of the AstroLrnere-community. More than a decade ago, there existed a small group of disconnected and nascent scholarsblindly staggering around a new discipline of astronomy education research, AER. The group was very looselyheld together by small topical gatherings at conferences such as the American Astronomical Society, whosupported a Working Group on Astronomy Education coordinated by Steve Shawl, among others; theAstronomical Society of the Pacific, nourished at that time by Andrew Fraknoi and Mike Bennett; theInternational Astronomical Union Education Commissions, coordinated at one time by Jay Pasachoff; theAssociation of Astronomy Educators, corralled by Russ Harding, Vivian Hoette, and Edna Devore; theInternational Planetarium Society, presided over by Jim Manning and Martin Ratcliffe, among others; and theAmerican Association of Physics Teachers Committee on Astronomy Education, chaired in those days byJohn Safko, Tim Slater, and Janelle Bailey. This is most certainly not an exhaustive list, but demonstrates howwidely scattered this young community was.The AstroLrner e-community was born out of an effort to build and connect a community of AERer’s. As wehad no journal nor our own special topical meeting at that time, it became clear that this widely dispersedgroup of un-networked individuals needed a way to communicate and collaborate.At each of the aforementionedface-to-face meetings at professional conferences, we kept a crude, handwritten list of attendees names ande-mail addresses, but did not really know what to do with it. By coincidence, many of us also self-identifiedourselves with the physics education research community, PER. In a moment of brilliant forward thinking,

Between immediacy and imagination: the place of the educator and organiser in union renewal

Can the current education programme of the Australian trade union movement contribute to reviving union growth and union culture, develop new activists and leaders, and encourage and facilitate the organisational change needed to re-orient unions to develop broader alliances? Twenty-five Australian trade union leaders were asked to describe the educational activities of their unions and to assess the education provided by the Australian Council of Trade Unions' (ACTU) national Education and Campaign Centre (ECC). Analysis of their responses reveals a number of structural, organisational and pedagogical challenges for delivering a national union education programme. It also raises questions of how education can support a union movement trying to convince new layers of workers that unionism can be a dynamic, forward-looking, social movement. The article outlines the existing course framework as a means of understanding the scope of current educational provision. Drawing on interviewee observations and Newman's concept of three contracts in union education, it considers the roles of educator and of organiser, and how an understanding of these roles is currently expressed by union leaders. We conclude with some questions about ways that the union movement might consider the relationship between education and union renewal.

Learning and adapting for organisational change: researching union education in Australia

The last quarter century saw a restructuring of employment, production and trade and a dramatic decline in union membership and density levels. There are many explanations for this, including the hostile industrial relations framework imposed by many governments, but there have been other factors such as the growth of new non-unionised industries that often rely on casualised labour; new attitudes to unions by younger workers; a political/cultural decline in the workers' movement under neo-liberalism; and an inability by many unions to adapt to these changes. Now dramatic economic changes arising from the global financial crisis that will see increased unemployment and further industry restructuring, along with the restructuring and re-skilling implications of climate change, pose new challenges for trade unions. Drawing on research with senior Australian union officials about the movement's education and training activities this paper considers the relevance of the adaptive systems literature for understanding the operational environments facing unions as they become larger more complex organisations. It considers the existing suite of education activities with reference to Illeris' tension field and the literature of union renewal that emphasises the need to develop new solidarities and therefore a broader conception of education, learning and development.

The Politics of the Economics of Education in the European Union

This article critically examines the work of the European Commission-sponsored network, the European Expert Network on Economics of Education (EENEE). The aim is to develop understanding of the context and significance of the mobilization of the economics of education research and policy paradigm within the European Union's Education and Training 2010 Work Programme. Drawing on a summary of the paradigm and critical assessment of policy texts produced by the network, the article examines the strategic opportunities which the paradigm offers the Commission in its attempts to promote reform of member state education and training systems. It is argued that the policy documents produced by the Commission drawing on the work of the EENEE demonstrate the intention to promote the network's findings as the basis for education reform. However, in key respects, the paradigm has proved unable to gain member state commitment to pursuing an economics of education agenda for reform. The established European Union policy on ‘efficiency and equity in education and training’ displays a marked reluctance to frame education and training funding in economic terms while at the same time drawing on key economics of education policy priorities (preschool education, the need to reflect on the efficiency and equity implications of tracking, and the importance of ongoing reflection on the funding of higher education). In conclusion, the article argues that the Commission has mobilized the economics of education politically and strategically but that tactical and selective use of an economic evidence base within the negotiation of European Union policy positions has done more to establish the European Union level as a factor in the governance of education and training than to produce effects in terms of the shifting of policy discourse or preference in the formulation of agreed European Union policy texts.

Globally Networked Union Education and Labour Studies: The Past, Present and Future

The literature on globally networked learning environments (GNLEs) has predominantly focused on research or classroom partnerships in higher education that usually involve traditional students enrolled in traditional degree programmes. However, the driving motivation behind GNLEs – learning in partnership across institutional and national boundaries to address issues of globalization – also has significant relevance for global labour education. To what extent, then, are labour educators taking advantage of such partnered learning environments to learn with and from each other across national boundaries? In order to explore this issue, this article provides a historical overview of e-learning initiatives in labour education to identify the challenges labour educators may need to address in order to facilitate such partnered learning environments.

Red Chicago: American Communism at Its Grassroots, 1928-1935

Red Chicago: American Communism at Its Grassroots, 1928-1935. By Randi Storch. (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2007. Pp. xi, 297. $25.00.) In previous accounts of American Communism during the Third Period (1928-'35), the American Communist Party (CPUSA) and its members were often painted as rigidly sectarian and staunchly dogmatic. While this was indeed often the case, Randi Storch, in Red Chicago, urges readers to move beyond this simplistic view by arguing that the period was not as sectarian as once believed, nor were orders given by party leaders in Moscow carried out unwaveringly and robotically by party faithful on the grass-roots level. Storch not only uses the records of the Chicago Communist Party to discern the degree to which local Communist Party members in Chicago did indeed accept orders, but also to what degree they dismissed these orders in favor of a more localized, personalized, and relevant agenda in the effort to organize local people, mainly workers, into the party. While Storch utilizes a multitude of primary sources in offering her analysis, most noteworthy is her use of the recently released archives of the Communist Party in Moscow organized as the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History. These archives include the records of local Communist Party chapters outside of Russia. Storch uses these records to analyze the involvement of Chicago's Communists in such organizations as the Trade Union Educational League (TUEL), Trade Union Unity League (TUUL), the Young Communist League (YCL), as well as their large-scale participation in the rent strikes during the early years of the Great Depression. As a result of this analysis, Storch persuasively argues that the Third Period, on the local level, included many characteristics that have been traditionally attributed to the era of the Popular Front. She shows that Chicago Communists in the period learned to work with liberals and nonCommunists and in the process developed successful organizing tactics and fought for worker's rights, racial equality, and unemployment relief and against imperialism. (2) Storch also challenges the standard narrative offered by various revisionist scholars, many of whom over- romanticized the CPUSA by depicting] Communists as idealized, organic radicals. (3) One of the ways in which she does this is by providing a candid analysis that shows that many Communist activists in Chicago made mistakes that discredited the movement, such as physically attacking workers who were deemed social fascists because they neglected to view working conditions in step with Communists or in establishing a revolutionary trade-union policy that only served to alienate the majority of Chicago's working-class. …

Engineering Resistance : Energy Professionals and the 2005 Strike in Neoliberal Ontario

In the summer of 2005, the Society of Energy Professionals Hydro One Local engaged in unprecedented strike action that lasted 105 days. This article documents the strike, and explores how and why it occurred, and with such significant support and participation from the 1000 members of a union that had no militant history. I trace the build-up, progression and resolution of the strike, drawing from Society materials, media reports and ethnographic observation, as well as the insights of elected leaders, staff representatives, and rank and file members of the Society collected through interviews and written questionnaires. I conclude that government policy and management behaviour caused worker anger but that union education, organization and democracy were integral to moving these “professional” workers into job action.

Accreditation in e-learning: North Cyprus higher education case

The impact of the e-learning and European Union's education programmes on curriculum development is expected to increase the contribution on the accreditation and evaluation process. The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of accreditation activities and quality assurance of e-learning providers in North Cyprus in order to reveal achievements, deficiencies and trends. A pilot qualitative research model was carried out only by senior executives. The multiple data were collected by self reports, research observation rating scaling, and in-depth interviews. Preliminary results have indicated that accreditation is not taken for granted in North Cyprus e-learning systems yet.

ICTUR in Action: Gibraltar

ICTURINACTION□ GIBRALTAR ICTUR in Action: Gibraltar On ICTUR inquiry 12 October on presented thesubject 2009 the of a the delegation findings human of rights from its ICTUR presented the findingsof its inquiry on thesubjectofthehumanrights of the Moroccancommunity in Gibraltar. We had been commissioned to preparethe report earlierthisyearby theGibraltar District Office ofUnitetheunion.The mainissuesofconcern to ICTURare by now well knownand widely reported. Theyare: ■ Naturalisation: allegations aboutslow,arbitrary , anddiscriminatory processing ofapplications forcitizenship; ■ Political Rights: denialoftheright tovoteto peoplewho havebeen living, working, and paying taxesinGibraltar forup to40 years; ■ Publicservices: ineligibility forcertain welfare benefits, anddiscrimination inrelation to health care; ■ Housing: discriminatory provision ofpublic housing andpoorquality ofrented accommodation ; and ■ Family re-unification: profound difficulties withvisasandtravel arrangements leadingto prolonged separation offamilies. In addition to thesespecific problemareas,we encountered anextraordinary lackoftransparency andsecrecy aboutmatters that oughttobe easily accessible.We experiencedgreat difficulty in obtaining accessto copiesofthevariousunpublished 'schedules' and 'discretionary schemes' that establish entitlements tocertain publicservices. In thereport, we described thediscrimination experienced bytheMoroccancommunity to be of a 'systemic nature'. Itisimportant toemphasise, that thediscriminationagainst Moroccan workers thatwe encounteredis nota problemin theprivate sector, in employment, inthestreet, orinsocialinteractions; rather itis a problem stemming directly from the publicauthorities. The Moroccans complain - for example -that they arebarred from thesubsidised publichousing usedbyGibraltarians andcanlive onlyinexpensive private sector rental accommodation (ifthey can afford it,whichmanycannot) orinbadly-maintained, dirty, infested, unsafe and overcrowded 'hostels' that a member ofourdelegation branded 'theDisgrace on theRock'. The Legal Position In order to ensurethat thelegalpotential should be investigated toitsfullest potential ICTURcommissioned a formal LegalAdvicefrom one ofthe UK's leading discrimination barristers, Karon Monaghan, QC. Giventhesystemic nature ofthe discrimination experienced byMoroccan workers, the mostconvenient routeforaddressing it is through proceedings in judicialreview.We are advisedthat: ■ Therearegood prospects ofsucceeding in legalactionundersections 1 and7 ofthe Gibraltar Constitution ■ Therearegood prospects ofsucceeding in legalactionunderdomestic (Gibraltarian) law implementing theRaceDirective 2000/43/EC, namely theEqualOpportunities Ordinance 2006(whenreadwithConvention on the Elimination ofRacialDiscrimination andthe RaceDirective 2000/43/EC) ■ Theremaybe violations oftheterms ofthe EU-Morocco Agreement, whichinmaterial respects is directly effective, as wellas the RaceDirective 2000/43/EC (whenreadwith Convention on theElimination ofRacial Discrimination) . Thereare also a numberof provisions of the EuropeanConvention on HumanRights thatare engaged by the problems encounteredby Moroccan workersin Gibraltar, and we are advisedthat there aregood prospects ofsucceedinginlegalactionunderArticles 8 and 14,ECHR and underArticles 2 and 3, ProtocolNo 1 in respect ofthetreatment experienced byparticular Moroccan workers, including that relating toimmigration status, political rights, accesstopublicservices ,housing, andfamily visits. Fortheavoidance of doubt,we are also advisedthatthereis no question abouttheability oftheMoroccan workersto relyon Convention rights and to seek to enforce them inthenormal way.Itis unquestionablythecase that theECHRappliestoGibraltar. Towardsa Solution Ourdiscussions withlocalactors, including representatives of the threemain politicalparties, encouragedus to believe thatthese problems werenotinsurmountable, andthat a political resolutionwould be a distinct possibility, thusrendering further legalworkunnecessary. The decisionofthetripartite ministerial forum securing a negotiated solutionto at leastone of themajor concerns oftheMoroccan community provides yet further encouragement forthisview.To thisend we setoutbelow30 recommendations foraction to theGovernments of Gibraltar, Spainand the United Kingdom. Recommendations To theBritishGovernment ■ torecognise thecontribution overmany years madebytheMoroccan community towards themaintenance ofan important British military facility; ■ toengagetheGibraltar Government indiscussionswitha viewtoensuring that rapid progress is madetoachievefull compliance withallhumanrights obligations inrespect of We encountered an extraordinary transparencyand secrecy about mattersthat oughtto be easily accessible. Discrimination against the Moroccan community is systemic DANIEL BLACKBURN IsDirector of ICTUR KDEWING isProfessor of Public Law atKing's College, University of London and a Vice President of ICTUR JONATHAN JEFFRIES is Lecturer in trade union education atCHENEL college, London Page 3 Volume 16Issue 4 2009 INTERNATIONAL union rights IA good pursue barrister of the discrimination different that inquiry prospects complaints a there advised number leading team legal are to discrimination barrister advised the inquiry team thatthereare good prospects to pursue a number ofdifferent legal complaints theMoroccan community; ■ toreview thesituation on an annualbasisand tosolicit contributions from allrelevant parties, including Unite Gibraltar andtheMoroccan associations, andtopublish thefindings ofthis review. ■ torecognise that allrelevant naturalisation criteria andapplication processes shouldbe published , transparent andaccessible, andcommunicatethis viewtotheGibraltar Government; ■ torecognise theprinciple that longterm residentsareentitled tovote;andtoliaisewith theGibraltar government witha viewtoimplementing thisprinciple, andifnecessary amend British law; ■ toliaisewiththeGibraltar andSpanish Governments inorder toensurethat thetransit visasproposedbytheTripartite Ministerial Forum shouldbe madeavailable withimmediateeffect . To theGibraltar Government On naturalisation ■ toensurethat allrelevant rules, criteria and procedural information arepublished, transparent ,andaccessible; ■ toreview theexisting rulesandpolicieswitha viewtoeliminating anyirrelevant barriers to applicants (suchas inappropriate language tests); ■ toputinplacea timetable fordealing with applications speedily, transparently, andconsistently . Onpolitical...

Understanding the role of union learning representatives in developing distinctive approaches to union learning

This article aims to provide a broad understanding of the role of union learning representatives (ULRs) and the contribution of union education and learning initiatives. It examines the scope for union learning to be distinctive and sustainable, and it does this by summarising and building upon a holistic review of research of ULR activity across the range of work and unions in the United Kingdom. The paper finds that there are opportunities arising from union learning, particularly for individuals to access learning opportunities for the first time, enabling economic and social well‐being; and the potential to develop critical awareness, reflection and action, with an emphasis on learning through social participation. It also stresses the need for caution in assessing achievement to date, with research suggesting a narrow focus of union learning, on increasing supply of qualifications rather than raising skill demand, and on low‐level qualifications with little added value. The article concludes that ULRs can play a central role in strengthening the contributions of learning initiatives through the union movement.

Sir Philip Sherlock: Founder and First Editor of Caribbean Quarterly

Almost anything that 1 say about Sir Philip Sherlock would be to gild the anthurium - the anthurium being the gift of a life of hope and fulfillment creatively crafted and deftly lived as part of a process of transformation, growth and development of an entire society in quest of itself, of its reason for being, for over half a century. Philip Manderson Sherlock had been at the beginning, since the late Thirties, of all the great challenges facing the people of our groping West Indies whether it be the call for self-government followed the birth-pangs of a society in protracted labour or the halting courtship leading to an attempt at union, or the bringing forth, complete with primal screams, of so many Independent nations starting with his own native Jamaica and her sister twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago in 1962. A persistent advocate of West Indian integration even in the face of the ill-fated Federation of 1958-61, Sir Philip has lived to see the light rekindled and the hope restored in the hearts of a new generation which remains the legatee of the vision he had for our Caribbean people in the surge towards a definitive civilisation. For him, as for other founding fathers, the twilight of colonialism was to herald a light rising from the West. Oriens ex Occidente Lux. Everywhere else it rises from the East. Trust us in our determination to be different, special and unique! Lord Milverton who, as Sir Arthur Richards the British Governor who detained trade unionist Alexander Bustamante and other radicals in 1939/1940. told me while I was researching the early self-goverment movement in Jamaica, that on being instructed by savingram from the British Colonial Office to proceed to Jamaica and restore Order, he arrived in the island with characteristic gubernatorial ardour intent on teaching the troublemakers a lesson. To his amazement he found alongside the fiery and remarkable Bustamante and a few egg-heads like Dick Hart and Frank Hill, a highly sophisticated society with people like the renowned lawyer N. W. Manley and young community leaders. Among these he singled out a bright young man named Phillip Manderson Sherlock. That young man had progressed to being the Vice Chancellor of the independent University of the West Indies at the time Lord Milverton was relating this story. None of this should be surprising, for Sir Philip was a great spirit, the avatar of all that gives force, purpose, life, hope and meaning to the turbulence, contradictions and chaosof our multi-sourced existence. He belonged to the chosen few the West Indies was lucky to have had at the helm of its social revolution - the chosen few who believed that the intractable problems of underdevelopment and the attendant immiseration of the mass of the population had to be met the empowerment of our people through the exercise of their intellect and their creative imagination. So he himself has been poet as well as historian, policy-determiner as well as classroom teacher, social worker and philosopher as well as administrator and man of public affairs. It is this call for texture rooted in a deep understanding of the need to inform intellectual pursuits with the arts of the imagination, which enriched the operation of the University of the West Indies from its fledgeling years. As a founding father, he actually helped to establish and administer the institution as its first Vice Principal and Director of Extra Mural Studies. By the time he became Vice Chancellor, after tending the establishment of the St. Augustine branch of the UWI, the Sherlock vision of the creative arts and the humanities acting as catalyst for intellectual pursuits and remaining handmaiden to the science and technology branches of knowledge, was well established. He institutionalised the vision partly through the introduction of a creative arts plank in the outreach work of his Extra Mural Department with the appointment of Staff Tutors in Drama along with counterparts in Social Work, Trade Union Education and Radio Education laying the foundations for degree programmes in Sociology and Social work, in Industrial Relations and related Social Science studies and in Mass Communications. …

The Mobility of University Students in Europe and Spain

The Bologna Process has taken an undeniable role in the development of the European Higher Education Space to create a shared framework at the higher education level. In this new framework, teachers' and students' mobility is the key element. This is one of the main aims that European Union education policies try to achieve. This study is about the mobility of Erasmus and Sicue students in the European Union and the Spanish university context. It tries to explain mobility through three basic lines of research: documentary analysis, the application of eligibility index and work field. The methodology used gathers qualitative and quantitative data from a sample of Erasmus and Sicue students. The results show that the participation in a mobility programme is not only connected with a personal profile but also with other factors that can promote or inhibit this decision. The most important factors are related to the family and relationship context, the features of programmes and the promotion that takes place in the universities.

Restructuring and trade union education. Trade unions anticipating and managing change – the TRACE project

Restructuring and trade union education. Trade unions anticipating and managing change – the TRACE project

Organisational Learning: How Organising Changes Education in Trade Unions

AbstractAustralian trade unions in the 1980s and 1990s sought to influence and guide the restructuring of vocational and workplace education policy, to widen participation in education and training, and establish partnership arrangements with government and business in order to promote international competitiveness. Since the mid 1990s, however, the changed contours of the labour market, and a steady decline in both the numbers of union members and density rates, accompanied by legislative attacks on the right to organise, led many unions to shift their emphasis to organising new members. Education was identified as a critical factor in preparing unions to undertake this new effort and as a means of changing union culture. This article studies the changes in union education that flowed from one union’s new concentration on developing capacity for organising for growth, and examines the new ways of knowing that resulted among officers and activists.

Powerful Community Relationships and Union Renewal in Australia

Terms such as labour-community coalitions, community unionism and social movement unionism are important features of current strategies for union renewal. This article develops a three-part framework of union-community relationships, from ad hoc to deeply engaged relationships. Criteria such as common interest, coalition structure, scale and union participation are identified as important variables for relationship variation and campaign success. The article explores the framework by analyzing three case studies from Sydney, Australia, involving the central labour council—Unions NSW. The paper argues that union-community relationships vary significantly; ad hoc relationships are useful to react to a crisis while deeper relationships are most useful to build a long-term agenda. Deeper relationships are supported when they are built alongside a process of internal union renewal. Deeper relationships are more successful if unions develop workplace leaders, support political union education and provide space for workplace stewards to connect to community campaigns.

Power at Work: Rebuilding the Australian Union Movement

Introduction Part 1 - Making sense of our situation Australian unions - what is the problem? What the hell happened to us? Why are unions in Australia the way they are? What kind of unions are we? Part 2 - Rethinking Unionism LHMU South Australia Defining unionism that works Organising and leadership Strategic choice Part 3 - Rebuilding organisational capacity Doing the union's work differently Member service centres Splitting the organiser workforce Organising existing members Organising new members - the role of external or growth organisersThe role of the industrial officer Union education National offices Financing change Finding additional resources to win Part 4 - Building strategic leverage Our strategy towards employers Managing the employer relationship The need for scale in organising Doing politics differently The closed shop and the future Part 5 - Driving comprehensive change Leadership Women in leadership Conclusion BibliographyIndex

Networked Learning and Social Action

This paper considers networked learning in the context of civil society organisations concerned centrally with some form of social action. We briefly outline some recurring characteristics of learning, and in particular networked learning, interventions in such social action settings. We introduce the concept of sociotechnical interaction network from the social informatics literature and apply it to identify and to analyse three aspects of networked learning, drawing on case material from transnational trade union education. Finally we identify issues for further research highlighted by this model.

European Union policies in education and training: the Lisbon agenda as a turning point?

This paper investigates European Union (EU) education and training policies in the light of the evolving Lisbon agenda on improving the competitiveness of the EU. It examines the ways in which EU policies have developed over time, focusing on their legal basis, underlying principles, main forms of implementation and their impact on national education and training systems. The paper argues that, in the wake of the Lisbon agenda, the legal basis for EU activities has been substantially extended by intergovernmental agreements. The discourse on the concept of economic competitiveness has changed the formulation of new EU policies in education and training, exemplified by a strong emphasis on educational indicators, benchmarks and quality controls. This has resulted in a new wave of EU initiatives in the field, sometimes updating or recycling activities that had not been successful in the past. The slow progress regarding the Lisbon goals for education and training seems to indicate, however, that the impact of EU programmes and projects for educational provisions in the Member States remains limited.