The Role of Agricultural Institutions in Providing Support Towards Sustainable Rural Development in South Pacific Island Countries

This paper examines the agricultural training in higher education institutions and tertiary colleges, their pre-eminent role and how best they can contribute to alleviate poverty in rural communities in Fiji and other South Pacific island countries. These institutions provide support through training farmers (vocational and adult education) and/or extension officers and providing researchers. Unfortunately, agricultural training institutions are not adapting to the rapid changing times early enough and have more or less maintained the traditional way of training. There is a need for agricultural institutions to amend their programs to facilitate the new emerging areas, together with new learning and teaching frameworks, establish new partnerships with the private sector in addition to expanding their representation in governance in addition to holding continuous dialogue with policymakers. Further, these institutions can potentially showcase local customs and knowledge, mirroring the regional culture, and ethical customs of the Pacific island community, as well as global movements and development forces. In reinforcing their title role as contributors to a culture of education and rural agricultural development, we suggest that agricultural institutions engage more directly and more effectively in partnerships and dialogue with other local agricultural stakeholders and their surrounding rural communities in Fiji and other Pacific island countries.

Ethnomathematics: Rice Procession Faced with Batubara Malays of North Sumatra

This study aims to examine the cultural links in a local area with mathematical concepts or commonly known as ethnomathematics. This ethnomathematical research raises the topic of discussion about a "Nasi Face-to-face" procession at weddings in the traditional Malay culture of Batubara, North Sumatra. This research will explore what mathematical aspects are contained in a regional culture of the Batubara Malay tribe, especially the “Nasi Face-to-face” procession. Descriptive qualitative research method with ethnographic approach is used in this study. The results showed that in the procession of "Nasi Facing-front" found various mathematical concepts related, namely sets, functions, geometry of flat shapes, and geometry of geometric shapes. With this research, it is hoped that it can be used as a unique medium for learning mathematics as well as getting to know the local culture that is applied in learning mathematics in schools.

Proses Awal dalam Penghasilan Komposisi “Kelampan Bajang” dengan Mengadaptasi Struktur Musik Pop Suku Sasak Lombok

The musical composition, entitled Kelampan Bajang, is the main narrative of the composition theme about the story of the journey of the young Sasak tribe which is semiotically depicted in three different times, namely morning, afternoon, and night. This composition emerged due to several phenomena found, including 1) there are no complete Sasak songs in transcripts and arrangements, 2) many musicians arrange songs in Sasak but often cause controversy in lyrics and music, 3) many talented young musicians cover repeating noname songs on several songs performed by many pop singers in Lombok, 4) many sasak pop songs but most of them do not represent local culture in terms of lyrics and music. This paper aims to explain the initial process of musical composition with the theme Kelampan Bajang including 1) Bekuliq, 2) Bekayaq, 3) Matur Tampiasih, 4) Sepi Alam Dese, 5) Lalo Midang, and 6) Merariq. All song lyrics are written in the Sasak language. The research uses the autoethnographic method to discuss the problem, how the idea of ​​creating musical compositions can be aligned with the diversity of musical culture in Lombok. After conducting an in-depth study, the author concluded that in order to create a compositional work that could represent regional culture and not cause controversy among the public, namely 1) the author inserted an exploration of the pelog and slendro melodic motifs in the vocal melody section as regional identity, 2) the author inserted the motif the melodies of pelog and slendro in the musical arrangement section, and 3) the author uses good and correct local language lyrics that are in accordance with the regional culture in Lombok.

Pengembangan Media Pembelajaran Berbasis Powerpoint Padu Musik Untuk Meningkatkan Hasil Belajar IPS Siswa Kelas 5 SDN 105326 Bangun Rejo

The aim of the researcher is to describe the Development of PowerPoint-Based Learning Media with Music to Improve Social Studies Learning Outcomes for 5th Graders at SDN 105326 Bangun Rejo. This research is a type of research with a development model or Research and Development (R&D) with a research product, namely PowerPoint-based learning media. Based on the results of inferential statistical analysis using the t test formula, it can be seen that the value is 43,640. With a frequency (dk) of 31 – 1 = 30 at a significance level of 5%, it is obtained = 1,571. Therefore > at a significance level of 0.05, the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative hypothesis is accepted, and on the T-test, the Sig value is 0.000, which means that there is an influence in using Powerpoint-Based Learning Media with Music on the student learning outcomes in social studies subjects, especially on the subject of regional culture in Indonesia class V SDN 105326 Bangun Rejo. The results of the analysis above which show the influence of Powerpoint-Based Learning Media Unified Music are in line with the results of observations made, besides Cronbach's Alpha is obtained 0.820 which is Cronbach's Alpha > 0.7, then the data of Media-Based Learning Powerpoint Padu Musik is considered reliable or valid.

Ludowość utracona? Strategie instytucjonalizacji sztuki ludowej w Szkole Przemysłu Drzewnego w Zakopanem

Abstrakt: W jakim stopniu funkcjonujące dzisiaj wyobrażenie „góralszczyzny” odpowiada tradycyjnej twórczości Podhala sprzed prób jej instytucjonalizacji? Tekst stanowi analizę metod konstruowania stylów regionalnego i narodowego, jakie realizowano w programach zakopiańskiej Szkoły Przemysłu Drzewnego z lat 1879–1939. Ówczesna twórczość rzeźbiarska wykładowców i wychowanków placówki oraz prowadzona w jej zakresie edukacja ukazują różnorodność prób instytucjonalizacji oraz instrumentalizacji ludowości. W literaturze przedmiotu brakuje jednak wyczerpującej analizy tych procesów. Celem tekstu jest prześledzenie (nad)użyć folkloru, do jakich dochodziło w obrębie uczelni. Analizie zostały poddane programy edukacji realizowane przez dyrektorów: Franciszka Neužila, Edgara Kovátsa, Stanisława Barabasza, Karola Stryjeńskiego oraz Adama Dobrodzickiego. Genealogia przywołanych koncepcji kształcenia ujawnia pewną ambiwalencję: nauczające wytwórczości ludowej programy były w rzeczywistości formami artystycznej ingerencji w regionalną kulturę Podhala, tworzonymi w większości przez „obcych” i dla „obcych”. Całość rozważań została zrealizowana z perspektywy studiów postkolonialnych oraz historii społeczno-politycznej. Summary: To what extent does the present image of Polish “highland culture” reflect the traditional art and craftsmanship of Podhale from before its institutionalization? This study offers an analysis of methods of creation of regional and national style, conducted at the School of Wood Industry in Zakopane from 1879 to 1939. Art and craft of students and professors and the educational methods demonstrate various attempts of institutionalization and instrumentalization of folklore. Literature on the subject lacks a thorough analysis of those processes. The object of this study was to trace the (ab)uses of folklore that happened on account of the School. Analyzed were the teaching programmes carried out by headmasters: Franciszek Neužil, Edgar Kováts, Stanisław Barabasz, Karol Stryjeński, and Adam Dobrodzicki. Those methods of education reveal an ambivalence: while officially teaching local folklore and craft, they were in fact a form of artistic interference with the regional culture of Podhale, by “strangers” and for “strangers”. The text was based on postcolonial studies and socio-political history.

Interplay between auditory and visual environments in historic districts: A big data approach based on social media

Historic districts play a vital role in stimulating urban economic development, conserving regional culture, and enhancing public participation. Both auditory and visual environments, and the interplay between them, are critical to visitors’ perception and evaluation of historic districts. However, most studies have explored either the auditory or visual environments separately. The handful of existing studies on audiovisual interaction were confined to laboratory environments, leading to limited external validity. Here, we performed a data-driven study of the features of auditory and visual environments and the interaction between them in 17 historic towns in China using posts containing soundscape-related keywords and streetscape photos from a popular Chinese social media platform. First, we found that the auditory environments in historic districts mainly consist of man-made sounds from folkloric activities, the sounds of street shop vendors, and natural sounds from running water and birds. Second, street greenery, spatial enclosure, and presence of pedestrian in visual environment are positively associated with emotional feedback of the soundscape. This study and others support the importance of studying the auditory and visual environments of historic districts in conjunction. The innovative methods used in this study can be used in further studies in the field.

The Impact of Regional Culture on the Psychological Characteristics, Startup Behaviors and Regional Economy of Modern Chinese Business Gangs

Business gang refers to the enterprise cluster formed by geographical relationship, which has always been the focus of research on entrepreneurship and regional economic development. The research of new institutional economics shows that culture, as an informal system, will change the social psychology, thinking mode and behavior of economic individuals, and provide a good environment for the growth of start-ups, thus affecting economic activities and economic development. Taking the five modern business gangs in China as the research subject, this paper uses the comparative method to analyze the regional cultural differences of the five modern business gangs, as well as the differences of the entrepreneurs’ psychological characteristics and startup behaviors. Through the analysis of the economic data of the provinces where the modern business gangs are located, this paper summarizes the differences of economic development in different regions. It is concluded that regional culture has a significant impact on the development of modern business gangs and regional economy. It is necessary to give full play to the advantages of regional culture and promote the high-quality development of modern business gangs and regional economy.