Classroom as Complex Adaptive System and the Emergence of Learning

Complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory is offering new perspectives on the nature of learning in school classrooms. In CAS such as social networks, city traffic systems and insect colonies, innovation, and change are occasioned through non-linear, bottom-up emergence rather than linear, top-down control. There is a growing body of evidence and discourse suggesting that learning in school classrooms, particularly in the early years and primary phases, has non-linear, emergent qualities and that teachers, school leaders, and educational researchers can gain valuable insights about the nature of interactive group learning by analyzing classrooms through a CAS lens. This chapter discusses the usefulness of a CAS framing for conceptualizing learning in primary school classrooms. It will explore key arguments, discuss relevant objections and draw on my own research to make the case for a measured application of CAS theory to primary classroom teaching and learning, explaining how it can support the development of innovative pedagogies.

Training Farmers or Educating Citizens?

Jørgen Delman’s Ph.D. thesis “Agricultural Extension in Renshou County, China” (1991) was the result of his return to academia in the late 1980s after he worked for three years at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN in China. It is a detailed study of the complex rural bureaucracy promoting agricultural innovation and change and reflects a deep understanding of how things worked on the ground in those relatively early years of market-oriented rural reforms. It also contributes to a larger story of how ‘modern’ knowledge over the last century has been transmitted and negotiated between China’s urban centers and its countless rural communities. This vignette offers some thoughts on this larger topic.

The influence of the crisis on corporate governance and its legislative regulation: evidence from Ukraine

The crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world community, changed the usual way of operating and managing each organization. The article aims to outline possible ways to optimize corporate management in crisis conditions in Ukraine. Based on the statistical methods the influence of COVID-19 pandemic on the activity of organisations in these conditions in Ukraine was determined, thus, this period was characterized by enterprises’ income fall, growing share of dismissed employees, new challenges for administrative staff in the area of innovation and change management etc. The most significant factors influencing the organization's crisis management were classified: negative (economic loss, lack of working capital, lack of demand for the products of the company, reducing staff, closing the economic areas that affect the company's operations, interruptions in the work of contractors) and positive (ensuring the stability of wages, changes in labor legislation, management flexibility, development of new forms of business, improving communication between the administration of the organization and the state). Determined that optimize crisis management organization possible through the implementation of management, economic and legislative measures. The optimization of crisis management of the organization will lead to economic development and preservation of human capital in the country.

Lesson Study in Vocational Education and Training

This paper introduces the ERASMUS+ project LS4VET, which aims to develop a Lesson Study model for the VET sector with the goal to encourage innovation and change in vocational education by creating an open-online course to support collaborative professionalism for VET educators. The status quo of Lesson Study in the four partner countries Austria, Hungary, Malta, and the Netherlands is described and an outlook on the development of a Lesson Study model for VET is given.

Managing Scarcity: Innovation and Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic remains a disruptive force upon the health care system, with particular import for thoracic surgery given the pulmonary pathophysiology and disease implications of the virus. The rapid and severe onset of disease required expedient innovation and change in patient management and novel approaches to care delivery and nimbleness of workforce. In this review, we detail our approaches to patients with COVID-19, including those that required surgical intervention, our expedited and novel approach to bronchoscopy and tracheostomy, and our expansion of telehealth. The pandemic has created a unique opportunity to reflect on our delivery of care in thoracic surgery and apply lessons learned during this time to “rethink” how to optimize resources and deliver excellent and cutting-edge patient care.

Impact of Private TV Channels and its Commodification of Religious Programs

Purpose: This paper examined some societies; religion itself is a complex subject, and then creating its content in the media is no less of a challenge. Especially in a society like Pakistan, where people are more sensitive in the name of religion and what is being said on TV soon spreads like wildfire on social media. The study looked at the extent to which Pakistani TV channels believe in commercialism and how far they can go for this purpose. To what extent has the aspect of commodification been embedded in Pakistani TV channels? One of the purposes of this research is to obtain and rate advertisements for the content produced and presented for TV. The questions are severe, and two different approaches have been adopted in the research method to find the answers. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study deals with the religious media contents and its public. This method is most commonly used in clinical research, schools, social organizations, or the research in which the domain is fixed. The systematic random sampling technique is applied in the selection of contents. This study reveals the religious commercialization and commodification done by Pakistani television channels. Due to the specification of the nature of TV contents, relevance is the most obvious factor. Findings: The finding shows that the majority opinion, the religious qualifications of the anchors of religious programs or their grasp on religious subjects are not much appreciated? In addition, the analysis of the material revealed that commercial advertisements run during religious shows on Pakistani TV channels. Still, at the same time, segments are also produced on a commercial basis.. Implications/Originality/Value: Religious content can be studied from further angles with regard to innovation and change for commercial purposes. These include the use of music, the movements of anchors in religious shows, the dissent of religious scholars, the use of glamor in religious programs, and the sale of life in the name of religion.

Liminal Participation: Young People’s Practices in the Public Sphere Between Exclusion, Claims of Belonging, and Democratic Innovation

Existing understandings of youth participation often imply clear distinctions from non-participation and thus boundaries between “recognized” and “non-recognized” practices of engagement. This article aims at questioning these boundaries. It analyzes young people’s practices in the public sphere that are characterized by both recognition as participation and misrecognition or stigmatization as deviant and it is suggested to conceptualize such practices as “liminal participation.” The concept of liminality has been developed to describe transitory situations “in-between”—between defined and recognized status positions—and seems helpful for better understanding the blurring boundaries of youth participation. Drawing on qualitative case studies conducted within a European research project, the analysis focuses on how young people whose practices evolve at the margins of the respective societies position themselves with regard to the challenges of liminality and on the potential of this for democratic innovation and change.