Parental involvement in public education is an expression of joint responsibility between parents and the state in which parents are expected to "comply" with current educational policy. Moreover, parents are often perceived as "reactive," whereas the educational administration is seen as proactive, mainly by reducing barriers…

This article explores the literature and practice of how the Cooperative Extension Service does its work and asks if traditional outreach and engagement models have room for innovative delivery mechanisms that may identify emerging trends and help meet community needs. It considers three innovative approaches to the educational mission:…

The educational needs assessment reported here measured North Carolina Cooperative Extension (NCCE) professionals' perceptions of global warming and identified barriers to climate change programming. Survey results from 400 NCCE professionals show 70% are cautious, concerned, or alarmed about global warming. Liberal and female Extension…

Icaros is an information technology (IT) cooperative that was originally owned by 11 IT degree programme students of Saimaa University of Applied Sciences. This article describes experiences and challenges of team building of these students who are called "teampreneurs" during their first year as team entrepreneurs. The findings provided here are…

Purpose: This review paper presents an overview of changes in agricultural extension on a global scale and helps to characterise on-going developments in extension practice. Design/methodology/approach: Through a critique and synthesis of literature the paper focuses on global political changes which have led to widespread changes from production-…

Purpose: This article analyses how an initiative on farm mechanisation by a local government in Kerala in South India evolved into a formal organisation that provides sustainable livelihood options to women and small and marginal farmers and revived the rice production system. Design/methodology/approach: The study followed the case analysis…

This paper examines the attempts made by the renewing kibbutzim to maintain their way of life as much as possible through the adjustment of their gating mechanisms. In this type of a rural gated community, sorting procedures and admittance criteria of nonmembers are the most notable elements. Background material and interviews with informants at…

This paper seeks to explore creative practice in an Australian country town, and in so doing, to unsettle market-orientated interpretations of creativity that privilege the urban. Instead of focusing on creative practice as a means to develop industries, we focus on how creativity is a means to establish a cooperative gallery space that helps to…

Communication is an important input in development. The role of communication is socio-economic and cultural development at national and international levels. Development is considered an important component of progress. The progressive change is described as alterations in awareness, motivation and participation of the individuals. With the…

The research base on the relationships among superintendents, school board members and student achievement results is strikingly small. Most research on student achievement has focused at the student-, teacher- and school-levels. This study focused at the district level, and specifically at the effects of school boards and superintendents. The…

Indigenous education in Guatemala is currently undergoing a massive overhaul in the depth and breadth of its reach in Maya areas. Although much can be said about the re-evaluation and incorporation of indigenous culture, language and worldview into the schools' curricula, it is still failing to reach the country's adult population. As a result of…

The purpose of this study was to gain an in depth knowledge of the day to day activities of home school families in order to better understand the instructional approaches, curriculum decisions, and challenges. Four themes were addressed: motivations, operations, resources, and challenges. Findings about motivations to home school included: (a)…

Twitter is increasingly being used by Extension educators as a teaching and program-marketing tool. It is not enough, however, to simply use Twitter to disseminate information. Steps must be taken to evaluate program impact with quantitative and qualitative data. This article described the following Twitter evaluation metrics: unique hashtags,…

This paper documents the experiences of a group of parents who came together to form a human service cooperative in their local community to address the needs of their adult children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Each parent felt that their child's needs were not (or could not be) met by existing providers. Parent leaders…

Purpose: The study investigated to what extent local farmers' organisations are spaces where farmers discuss, learn and innovate. Design/methodology/approach: Two milk collection cooperatives in Morocco were studied. The study analysed the discussion networks, their impacts on farmers' knowledge and innovation, and the performance of collective…