title: The politics of local government and development in Sri Lanka: An analysis of the contribution of non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

authors: Akurugoda, Indi Ruwangi

subjects: local government

abstract: Sri Lanka has inherited a unitary state structure and a highly centralised approach to government administration. Since independence in 1948, various proposals to restructure government, including decentralising powers to provincial and local levels, have been proposed, but none have been fully implemented. The Sinhala nationalist parties and groups which have supported successive governments have generally rejected all decentralisation proposals. Moreover, the political elite has long been oriented towards and accepting of strong leadership from the centre, which has largely ignored local government and local development, with serious implications for much of the population.
The tsunami of 2004 and the end of the war in 2009 saw NGO support and large amounts of foreign funding flow into Sri Lanka to assist in the recovery. Central government and its leadership have controlled the whole aid management and distribution process, by directing foreign funds towards conducting large scale construction projects at the local level without considering local needs. Despite restrictions imposed by central government, a number of NGOs have begun to play an important role in promoting local development through interacting with local government bodies and local communities. NGOs can, thus, be found to be at the forefront of endeavours to address social and economic needs at the local level.
This study, examines how and why local communities have been neglected in development initiatives in Sri Lanka, and assesses the significance of support from NGOs in increasing the capacity of local government and in promoting local development. Hypotheses derived from the literature related to post-colonial criticisms, government-NGO relations, and NGO interactions in the policy process are examined and assessed. Based on research in the southern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka, this study analyses the views of national, provincial and local level political representatives and administrative officials, NGO officials and CBO representatives.
The research revealed that while local level respondents aspired to play an active role in decisions about the use of foreign support for local development, they tended to lack the knowledge and capacity to do so. Local level respondents highlighted the importance of NGO guidance in these processes, particularly in terms of promoting local people’s participation in local government decision making. This thesis concludes that NGOs can play a positive role in supporting local government in addressing development needs at the local level. Local government-NGO relations were found to have made an effective and significant contribution to fulfilling local level needs. NGOs can thus be seen to play a positive role in empowering local government and local communities and their involvement has potential to lead to a move away from highly centralised power structures.

text: The politics of local government and development in Sri Lanka: An analysis of the contribution of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Sri Lanka has inherited a unitary state structure and a highly centralised approach to government administration. Since independence in 1948, various proposals to restructure government, including decentralising powers to provincial and local levels, have been proposed, but none have been fully implemented. The Sinhala nationalist parties and groups which have supported successive governments have generally rejected all decentralisation proposals. Moreover, the political elite has long been oriented towards and accepting of strong leadership from the centre, which has largely ignored local government and local development, with serious implications for much of the population.
The tsunami of 2004 and the end of the war in 2009 saw NGO support and large amounts of foreign funding flow into Sri Lanka to assist in the recovery. Central government and its leadership have controlled the whole aid management and distribution process, by directing foreign funds towards conducting large scale construction projects at the local level without considering local needs. Despite restrictions imposed by central government, a number of NGOs have begun to play an important role in promoting local development through interacting with local government bodies and local communities. NGOs can, thus, be found to be at the forefront of endeavours to address social and economic needs at the local level.
This study, examines how and why local communities have been neglected in development initiatives in Sri Lanka, and assesses the significance of support from NGOs in increasing the capacity of local government and in promoting local development. Hypotheses derived from the literature related to post-colonial criticisms, government-NGO relations, and NGO interactions in the policy process are examined and assessed. Based on research in the southern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka, this study analyses the views of national, provincial and local level political representatives and administrative officials, NGO officials and CBO representatives.
The research revealed that while local level respondents aspired to play an active role in decisions about the use of foreign support for local development, they tended to lack the knowledge and capacity to do so. Local level respondents highlighted the importance of NGO guidance in these processes, particularly in terms of promoting local people’s participation in local government decision making. This thesis concludes that NGOs can play a positive role in supporting local government in addressing development needs at the local level. Local government-NGO relations were found to have made an effective and significant contribution to fulfilling local level needs. NGOs can thus be seen to play a positive role in empowering local government and local communities and their involvement has potential to lead to a move away from highly centralised power structures.

year: 2014

title: Enhancing the Reading Engagement of University English Language Learners:  An Action Research Project

authors: Lee, Jocelyn Yee Vun

subjects: Applied Linguistics

abstract: Despite burgeoning research that has been conducted on the broad term “engagement” in the past decades, research into engagement in English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts remains scarce. Furthermore, in the English Language Learners (ELLs) context in Malaysia, where reading avoidance seems to be an issue, no research has specifically addressed reading engagement.

This qualitative case study aims to increase student reading engagement through a strategy-based intervention, Comprehensive Approach to Reading Engagement (CARE), designed to engage ELLs with whom it was conducted under an action research paradigm. Another purpose of the study is to investigate the extent to which reflective practice and development as an action researcher would empower the practitioner in her professional development.

Data were collected from 41 students enrolled in an intact university class for 36 hours; a duration of a semester. Six participants, each representing different engagement levels, were selected for close study. Data collected from the six participants in this study were obtained from multiple sources, including transcriptions of participants’ reflective reading logs; transcriptions of audio-recordings of group discussions and a group interview; transcriptions of audio-recordings of the researcher’s private speech during lessons; and the researcher’s reflective journal. Most of the data were qualitative, but some - such as the word count in logs, speech size, number of turns in discussion, and reading engagement scores - were quantitative. In the first phase of the action research cycle, students received explicit instruction and teacher modelling, and in the second phase, they worked more independently. The data were subject to a procedure of grounded analysis, and triangulated to achieve a thick description.

The results showed that interactional opportunities such as retelling and group discussion supported four dimensions of ELLs’ reading engagement: behavioural, cognitive, emotional and agentic. From a sociocultural perspective, ELLs need one another to achieve engagement. Peer scaffolding, or collective scaffolding, in ways analogous to teacher scaffolding exemplified students’ agency. The findings of the present investigation showed that sustained silent reading, when effectively scaffolded, tended to have positive effects on ELLs. Evidence in the present study showed that growing engagement appeared to be attributed to Comprehensive Approach to Reading Engagement (CARE), which allowed ELLs to move along the reading pathways from initial engagement, to emergent engagement, and finally, deeper engagement with texts. As a means of examining the practitioner’s position and practice, action research revealed the teaching style and tacit knowledge of the practitioner’s everyday practice. As a reflective teacher, I moved along a continuum comprised of identifying a problem (students were disaffected with reading), developing a research design, collecting data, refining the procedures, analysing the data, and presenting aspects of the study in the public domain. The present case study can be related, rather than generalised, to similar contexts. The study can make an original contribution to an academic understanding of reading engagement and the teacher’s reflective practice in relatable contexts. These findings have important implications for practitioners and researchers; they suggest that neglecting the role of reading engagement could be the cause of missed opportunities to support ELL literacy development and students’ critical thinking stance. The present study also shows that developing reflective opportunities has evident consequences for teachers who are engaging in action research.

text: Enhancing the Reading Engagement of University English Language Learners:  An Action Research Project Despite burgeoning research that has been conducted on the broad term “engagement” in the past decades, research into engagement in English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts remains scarce. Furthermore, in the English Language Learners (ELLs) context in Malaysia, where reading avoidance seems to be an issue, no research has specifically addressed reading engagement.

This qualitative case study aims to increase student reading engagement through a strategy-based intervention, Comprehensive Approach to Reading Engagement (CARE), designed to engage ELLs with whom it was conducted under an action research paradigm. Another purpose of the study is to investigate the extent to which reflective practice and development as an action researcher would empower the practitioner in her professional development.

Data were collected from 41 students enrolled in an intact university class for 36 hours; a duration of a semester. Six participants, each representing different engagement levels, were selected for close study. Data collected from the six participants in this study were obtained from multiple sources, including transcriptions of participants’ reflective reading logs; transcriptions of audio-recordings of group discussions and a group interview; transcriptions of audio-recordings of the researcher’s private speech during lessons; and the researcher’s reflective journal. Most of the data were qualitative, but some - such as the word count in logs, speech size, number of turns in discussion, and reading engagement scores - were quantitative. In the first phase of the action research cycle, students received explicit instruction and teacher modelling, and in the second phase, they worked more independently. The data were subject to a procedure of grounded analysis, and triangulated to achieve a thick description.

The results showed that interactional opportunities such as retelling and group discussion supported four dimensions of ELLs’ reading engagement: behavioural, cognitive, emotional and agentic. From a sociocultural perspective, ELLs need one another to achieve engagement. Peer scaffolding, or collective scaffolding, in ways analogous to teacher scaffolding exemplified students’ agency. The findings of the present investigation showed that sustained silent reading, when effectively scaffolded, tended to have positive effects on ELLs. Evidence in the present study showed that growing engagement appeared to be attributed to Comprehensive Approach to Reading Engagement (CARE), which allowed ELLs to move along the reading pathways from initial engagement, to emergent engagement, and finally, deeper engagement with texts. As a means of examining the practitioner’s position and practice, action research revealed the teaching style and tacit knowledge of the practitioner’s everyday practice. As a reflective teacher, I moved along a continuum comprised of identifying a problem (students were disaffected with reading), developing a research design, collecting data, refining the procedures, analysing the data, and presenting aspects of the study in the public domain. The present case study can be related, rather than generalised, to similar contexts. The study can make an original contribution to an academic understanding of reading engagement and the teacher’s reflective practice in relatable contexts. These findings have important implications for practitioners and researchers; they suggest that neglecting the role of reading engagement could be the cause of missed opportunities to support ELL literacy development and students’ critical thinking stance. The present study also shows that developing reflective opportunities has evident consequences for teachers who are engaging in action research.

year: 2015

title: Interface of gender and culture

authors: Tamasese, Kiwi

subjects: Maori

abstract: I greet you in the soothing waters of the Pacific. The birth waters of Hawai’i to the North, island of the dream time, and Aotearoa, to the south. Papua New Guinea to the West and Marquesas to the East.  These islands are the gathering places of the world’s largest Continent, the Pacific. We of this continent know that her birth waters are our connection.  We also know that she is woman identified. It is no surprise therefore that from Hawai’i to the north to Aotearoa in the south the positioning of women in each of these societies bears a different story to that of the women of the continent of Europe.  This reality lived out in Hawai’i means women shared with men the ultimate leadership of peoples.  This location of women power is named Kuhinanui. Many remarkable women of Hawai’i occupied this position.  From times of peace throughout to the first clash with imposed new culture, women of Hawai’i led, bled, struggled, defied and kept the kukui of self belief burning. Genealogically Hawai’i is connected to her other sisters throughout the Pacific.  The story of Kuhinanui Liliuokalani is poignant.

text: Interface of gender and culture I greet you in the soothing waters of the Pacific. The birth waters of Hawai’i to the North, island of the dream time, and Aotearoa, to the south. Papua New Guinea to the West and Marquesas to the East.  These islands are the gathering places of the world’s largest Continent, the Pacific. We of this continent know that her birth waters are our connection.  We also know that she is woman identified. It is no surprise therefore that from Hawai’i to the north to Aotearoa in the south the positioning of women in each of these societies bears a different story to that of the women of the continent of Europe.  This reality lived out in Hawai’i means women shared with men the ultimate leadership of peoples.  This location of women power is named Kuhinanui. Many remarkable women of Hawai’i occupied this position.  From times of peace throughout to the first clash with imposed new culture, women of Hawai’i led, bled, struggled, defied and kept the kukui of self belief burning. Genealogically Hawai’i is connected to her other sisters throughout the Pacific.  The story of Kuhinanui Liliuokalani is poignant.

year: 1993