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1 – 10 of over 1000Elisa Monteiro and Chris Forlin
A critical resource for inclusive education is ensuring that an effective curriculum is in place for preparing teachers. Reviewing an existing curriculum and revising it to meet…
Abstract
A critical resource for inclusive education is ensuring that an effective curriculum is in place for preparing teachers. Reviewing an existing curriculum and revising it to meet this need is an important aspect of every teacher training institution. The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the effect of a revised Post-Graduate Diploma in Education programme on teachers' pedagogical practice and knowledge transfer for inclusive education. Following completion of the programme, this was investigated from the perspective of teachers' implementation of knowledge transfer to their teaching through various pedagogical strategies, classroom management and perceived personal awareness of student needs. In addition, teachers responded regarding the programme design. While strong support was found for the programme, significant differences were found, however, between teachers working in Chinese and English medium of instruction schools, age and teaching experience following participation in the programme. Implications are discussed within the context of responding to the new curriculum framework for formal education in Macao Special Administration Region, which promotes more inclusive schools.
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Brighton Nyagadza, Asphat Muposhi, Gideon Mazuruse, Tendai Makoni, Tinashe Chuchu, Eugine T. Maziriri and Anyway Chare
The purpose of this article is to investigate the factors that explain the reasons why customers may be willing to use chatbots in Zimbabwe as an e-banking customer service…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to investigate the factors that explain the reasons why customers may be willing to use chatbots in Zimbabwe as an e-banking customer service gateway, an area that remains under researched.
Design/methodology/approach
The research study applied a cross-sectional survey of 430 customers from five selected commercial banks conducted in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling.
Findings
The research study showed that a counterintuitive intention to use chatbots is directly affected by chatbots' expected performance, the habit of using them and other factors.
Research limitations/implications
To better appreciate the current research concept, there is a need to replicate the same study in other contexts to enhance generalisability.
Practical implications
Chatbots are a trending new technology and are starting to be increasingly adopted by banks and they have to consider that customers need to get used to them.
Originality/value
This study contributes to bridging the knowledge gap as it investigates the factors that explain why bank customers may be willing to use chatbots in five selected commercial Zimbabwean banks. This is a pioneering study in the context of a developing economy such as Zimbabwe.
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Rahabhi Mashapure, Brighton Nyagadza, Lovemore Chikazhe, Gideon Mazuruse and Precious Hove
The main purpose of this research is to investigate factors influencing rural women entrepreneurship development and sustainable rural livelihoods in Manicaland province of…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this research is to investigate factors influencing rural women entrepreneurship development and sustainable rural livelihoods in Manicaland province of Zimbabwe.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research was conducted in Manicaland province in Zimbabwe. Data were collected through structured questionnaires from 400 women entrepreneurs in various sectors. The participants were in vegetable vending, operating clothing flea markets and cross border trading. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents. Structural equation modeling in SmartPLS version 3 was used to test the research hypotheses.
Findings
The study established that women entrepreneurship is driven by financial factors, positive environmental factors, positive psychological factors as well as positive sociological factors for a sustainable rural livelihood.
Research limitations/implications
It is clear that if the discovered challenges are not addressed, sustainability of women entrepreneurship will remain a dream.
Practical implications
The study came up with strategies for improving women entrepreneurship activities. Future research can be done in other areas of provinces to avoid generalization challenges.
Social implications
Many challenges hinder the sustainability of women entrepreneurship. Major impediments to women entrepreneurship comprises inadequate support from government schemes, patriarchal societal structure of the community, lack of relevant entrepreneurial knowledge to manage businesses, lack of collateral security to access funding, time limitation or role conflict to balance family pressures and business.
Originality/value
The study recommends proper entrepreneurship education and training, supportive government schemes and access to network affiliation/connection to sustain women entrepreneurship.
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Moses Waithanji Ngware, David Kuria Wamukuru and Stephen Onyango Odebero
To investigate the extent to which secondary schools practiced aspects of total quality management (TQM).
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate the extent to which secondary schools practiced aspects of total quality management (TQM).
Design/methodology/approach
A cross‐sectional research design was used in this study. A sample of 300 teachers in a residential session during a school holiday provided their perceptions on the practice of TQM in their schools. Data were collected using a questionnaire.
Findings
Board of Governors and chairpersons in secondary schools are not providing the necessary leadership that would promote TQM practices necessary for schools' continuous improvement. However, some head teachers are providing the required leadership with a considerable number of school managements empowering their employees. The majority of schools are not committed to strategic quality planning, though they do promote human resource development initiatives.
Research limitations/implications
The study relied on an accessible sample of practising teachers drawn from M.Ed and PGDE students on a one‐month residential session in a public University. There is likelihood that schools from all the regions of the country were not represented.
Practical implications
School management is expected to provide leadership that promotes TQM practices in order to achieve set objectives. Empowered employees participate in decision‐making and are capable of increasing the quality of learning. Strategic quality planning is important for the provision of quality services while human resource development is necessary in schools to motivate and realise the maximum potential from employees.
Originality/value
The study provides research information on the Kenyan education system and quantifies the extent to which it is being practiced.
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In this piece, the author invokes Beck’s (1997) conception of “zombie categories” to discuss how the virus of neoliberalism has infected ideas and key actors within a highly…
Abstract
In this piece, the author invokes Beck’s (1997) conception of “zombie categories” to discuss how the virus of neoliberalism has infected ideas and key actors within a highly stratified teaching community in Malaysia. Drawing from the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the author employs a zombie metaphor as a heuristic to trace the stages of a neoliberal apocalypse. The author first considers how neoliberal ideologies have mutated into a new strain of virus that have infiltrated the teaching landscape by comparing teachers employed by the Ministry of Education against teachers who have been recruited by Teach For Malaysia in the public schooling system. The author then explores how sources of zombification have contaminated actors using governmentality (Foucault, 1991) through intensification, corporatization, marketization, metricization, and performativity. This is followed by an attempt to construct a survival response to the apocalypse by suggesting how specific neoliberal competencies are coveted and the implications behind it. Finally, the author outlines how the forces of neoliberalism engender a crisis in education that mirrors a zombie culture of breeding a contagion that could widen existing educational inequalities and inequities. The author concludes by offering a tentative containment plan that considers existing alongside this neoliberal virus that refuses to die.
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In Africa, the community college model, catered to nontraditional college aspirants, has been increasingly seen as an important alternative to respond to the growing demand for…
Abstract
In Africa, the community college model, catered to nontraditional college aspirants, has been increasingly seen as an important alternative to respond to the growing demand for postsecondary education. By highlighting the case of Ethiopia, this chapter explores the implications of the community college model through the examination of the system, teacher training, and perspectives of students and employers. Some education and training can be more efficiently delivered at the community college level by means of focused and high-quality teaching, rather than through a long duration of bachelor's program.