Forced Labor Exploitation: Illegal Trading in Protected Goods in the Southern African Countries

Human exploitation refers to the curtailment of fundamental human rights. The crime plays out notwithstanding the laws that criminalizes human abuses. This study explored the policing of human trafficking and forced labor in the Southern African countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and assesses the capabilities and abilities of law enforcement agencies in the region to curb the scourge. In this study a qualitative perspective was adopted with use of literature study and interviews. The prevalence of organized criminal groupings exacerbates the problem of human trafficking and forced labor in the region. Law enforcement corruption is rife as the police are often accused of acts of receiving bribes. There are capacity constraints in the policing agencies across the region which impacts negatively on proactive enforcement of protected goods. The study reveals that respective law enforcement agencies work in seclusion and do not systematize their databases to share information with other agencies owing to a prevailing cynicism amongst countries. It is proposed that there should be harmonization of law enforcement agencies’ databases to share information for intelligence purposes and to develop defensive and responsive response mechanisms to thwart the crime.

Enactments of Curriculum Policies in Greek Secondary Education: Regulative Discourses and the Reproduction of Social Inequalities

Many critical research studies have documented the complex ways in which global policies on school curricula are reshaped at national and local levels. This paper focuses on the discourses which regulate the recontextualizations of global policies in local school settings. The paper presents an empirical study on the enactments of language curricula in the Greek school education system. Using Bernstein’s theory of knowledge pedagogization, we analyze data produced by semi-structured interviews and classroom observations in five lower secondary state schools with socially and ethnically diverse student populations, in the inner city of Athens. Our findings show that, while the socially disadvantaged schools are regulated by discourses on inclusion, in the more advantaged schools of the study regulative discourses are related to performance management concerns. The paper points to the potential implications of such discourses, claiming that challenging educational inequalities requires to identify and act upon the discourses regulating teachers’ practices.

The Effect of School Space on Pedagogical Practices and Students’ Learning Outcomes: A Review of Scientific Sociological Literature

School space is an important factor in the realization of educational work since it shapes the material conditions for the implementation of the educational process. The aim of this paper, which focuses on a review of contemporary sociological scientific literature, is to investigate and highlight the effect of school space on the shaping of pedagogical practices, as well as on the pupils’ learning outcomes. Study and analysis of the content of research findings and relevant scientific papers reveal that school space is chiefly “mono-functional” and that both teachers and pupils remain caught up in the implementation of what are largely traditional pedagogical practices. School space clearly needs to be adapted to the new pupil-centered pedagogical methods, and this can only be achieved through the initiative and agency of the teachers. Finally, it is also clear that the pupils’ learning outcomes are to a great extent linked to the position they occupy in the space within the school classroom.

Social Life of Senior Citizens: A Review of Therapeutic Effects of Gardening for Wellbeing in Urban Nepal

This paper provides the insights for a better understanding of individual, familiar, and social factors of loneliness that influence wellbeing of people in later life. The review offers a thematic analysis on loneliness in elderly people and the therapeutic effects of gardening activities for healthy ageing. Five key themes related to loneliness of elderly people emerged across the papers: loneliness-an issue for wellbeing in life after retirement; the effects of gardening and plants on loneliness; gardening – a therapeutic tool to combat loneliness; elderly’s loneliness during the pandemic and home gardening; and national and international initiatives to decrease loneliness in the elderly population. The review found a significant gap in literature directly connecting loneliness in the elderly with gardening activities for happy and healthy life ageing. The review found that there is a limited number of literatures on the loneliness situation of elderly people during the pandemic, where gardening plays a vital role to reduce the psychological problem while maintaining the social distancing and isolation.

Profiling of Accreditation in Libyan Higher Education Institutions

Institutional accreditation is often implemented as a tool for service enhancement or as a vehicle for educational change in broadly different settings. There is little evidence of the effect of accreditation, although there are indications in developed countries that facilities complying with initial low standards substantially increase their compliance levels as a result of engaging in accreditation programs funded by quality improvement interventions. This review intends to highlight on the profiling of accreditation in Libyan higher education institutions.

School-to-University Transition: The Paradox of Motivated but Undecided Students

Educational research on university transitions has repeatedly highlighted that inequalities related to cultural origin still persist even though intergenerational upward mobility has been facilitated over the last fifteen years due to the huge enrollment rates documented across countries in the Western world. In contrast to this line of research in which differences between social or cultural groups are investigated, the unit of analysis in this article is a demographically homogeneous group of families in which the parents invest in university studies as the main route for their children’s post-18 pathways. Through a variable-based research design we explore the conditions which affect high-school students’ motives for following university studies. The main finding has to do with the fact that it is how late or early students make their decision that is the factor differentiating the families within this group and affecting the students’ transition to university.

Early Adolescence Today: A Theoretical Approach to Particularities and Challenges

This paper aims to present the main features of early adolescence today (also known as preadolescence). The paper refers to this age period on three levels: the physical level and sexual maturation, the cognitive level, and the socio-emotional level. Thus, we propose a theoretical approach to the main characteristics of early adolescence, but also the analysis of a series of particularities and challenges specific to this stage of life. Despite the fact that childhood, preadolescence and adolescence are certainly difficult, most young people manage to get through these stages of development due to the relationships with family and friends, motivated by academic success or activities that help them build their personality and self-esteem.

Getting a Barista Job: Adjudicating the Impact of Human Capital, Social Capital, Age and Gender

This study concerns the role of human capital, social capital, age, and gender in acquiring a job as an entry-level barista. Employment records were coded and analyzed in order to identify the key factors differentiating this applicant pool. The results from multivariate models produce fewer positive associations between human capital and social capital indicators than the literature suggests. Those with greater educational attainment are more likely to have high-status references on their applications. As seen in previous literature, the social capital of applicants is not very relevant in acquiring this entry-level job. Overall, educational attainment was most salient in increasing the odds of being interviewed and hired. The managers responsible for these decisions appear to favor formal higher education over work experience or references. The findings are discussed vis-à-vis women’s gains in higher education, the growth of the service sector, and the aging of the U.S. population.