Query: Strategic Planning in English Education

title: Strategic workforce planning in healthcare: A multi methodology approach
abstract: This paper presents a description of the development and use of a framework for strategic workforce planning for healthcare at the national level. The framework is called the Robust Workforce Planning Framework, and was developed by the Centre for Workforce Intelligence. The Centre for Workforce Intelligence was a national organisation that delivered workforce planning advice, and was active from July 2010 until March 2016. The Centre was a key contributor to the planning of future workforce requirements for healthcare in England and was primarily commissioned by the English Department of Health, Health Education England and Public Health England, supporting them in national and local strategic workforce planning. The framework involved the use of multiple methodologies, including the development of strategic workforce models based on System Dynamics, and the framework evolved through practise. This paper describes contributions to three areas in the field: healthcare workforce planning models using System Dynamics, the use of System Dynamics to support strategic planning with the integration of multiple methodologies, and facilitated modelling through building and using System Dynamics models in workshops.

title: A COLLABORATIVE WRITING TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE STUDENTS' SKILL IN WRITING ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY(A Classroom Action Research at the Fourth Semeseter Students of English Education Department of IKIP PGRI Bojonegoro in the Academic Year of 2013/2014
abstract: This research investigates whether Collaborative Writing Technique can improve students' skill in writing argumentative essay and how class situation is when Collaborative Writing Technique is implemented. This is a Classroom Action Research (CAR) which is conducted at the fourth semester students of English Education Department of IKIP PGRI Bojonegoro in the academic year of 2013/2014. This Classoom Action Research is done in three cycles. Each cycle consists of four steps: Planning, Acting, Observing, and Reflecting. The qualitative data are collected through observation and interview. The quantitative data are collected through test. The research findings reveal that the implementation of Collaborative Writing Technique can improve students' skill in writing argumentative essay and build effective teaching and learning which can be seen from: automaticity, meaningful learning, the anticipation of reward, intrinsic motivation, strategic investment, language ego, self confidence, risk taking, the language culture connection, the native language effect, interlanguage, and communicative competence. Derived from the findings, it can be concluded that the implementation of Collaborative Writing Technique can improve students' skill in writing argumentative essay and class situation. Therefore, it is recommended for the lecturers to employ Collaborative Writing Technique as it can improve students' writing skill as well as class situation. Writing, Collaborative Writing Technique, Argumentative Essay

title: Hitting the Mark: Strategic Planning for Academic Rigor
abstract: This article presents a comprehensive example of academic instruction in one elementary school in which administrative and teacher leaders decided to take a stand for students by examining the extent to which instruction was hitting or missing the mark of academic rigor. As a consultant in the school the author found several areas where the participants could significantly improve instructional practice to increase academic rigor. Perspectives on strategic planning to align instruction to standards, to develop higher level questions, and to promote student automaticity are based on conclusions drawn from classroom observations. Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Initiative establishes a single set of common educational objectives for kindergarten through Grade 12 in English language arts and mathematics. Forty five American states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity have adopted the Standards as a basis to determine what every student should know and do to be college and career ready (Common Core State Standards, 2010).With the implementation of the Standards, school administrators, curriculum facilitators, and other educational leaders have become increasingly obsessed with the concept of academic rigor and for good reason. Although Blackburn (2008) and others agreed there is no one concrete definition of academic rigor, the mission of the CCSS comes pretty close: "The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers" (CCSS, 2010, p. 1) Furthermore, Wagner (2006) succinctly defined the outcomes of rigorous instruction as creating a jury ready" populace who can "analyze an argument, weigh evidence, recognize bias (their own and others) distinguish fact from opinion, and be able to balance the sometimes competing principles of justice and mercy" (p. 29) If one examines each of Wagners expectations and plots them on Blooms Revised Taxonomy Table according to the tenets outlined by Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) in A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision to Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, one would find that Wagners objectives fall at the upper end of the cognitive domains. In essence, Wagner concluded that college and career ready students should be able to analyze and evaluate conceptual knowledge and apply underlying procedures for concluding a verdict.Thus, much of what the "frightening" new standards call for in the form of academic rigor is no different than what has been advocated in education since Benjamin Blooms taxonomy originally surfaced in 1956. The astonishing revelation is that many teachers are still unsure exactly how the taxonomy should be used to align instruction, learning, and assessment, and, as a result, instruction and, in many cases, assessments tend to focus on recalling facts and understanding concepts missing the mark of bigger academic gains that come when students are expected to make decisions about the implementation of procedures, determine points of view, evaluate and critique these points of view against specified criteria, and create alternative perspectives based on conceptual understandings.This article presents a comprehensive example of academic instruction in one elementary school in which courageous administrative and teacher leaders decided to take a stand for students by examining the extent to which instruction was hitting or missing the mark of academic rigor. As a consultant working with these educators who were so willing to look at themselves, I found several areas where instructional practice could be significantly improved to increase the intent and extent of academic rigor. With a history of low performance and a high poverty student population, but with funds from a national grant at their aid, school leaders at Courageous Elementary were determined not just to eliminate their school's state defined status as "in need of immediate improvement" but also to eliminate low expectations, improve teacher practice, and increase student outcomes for both learning and living by advancing academic rigor.

title: Management and accounting in English higher education influenced by environmental and academia specific factors
abstract: This article originates from a longitudinal study of management and accounting practices in the English higher education sector. The processes of strategic management and strategic management accounting in several English higher education institutions were investigated, from planning to assessment, and their meaning to members of staff. The study has a qualitative character, focussing on how participants perceived the practices and methods that were applied in the institution. Several divisions within institutions were researched for this study. In the course of the research, contextual factors transpired to play an important role. This article discusses these environmental aspects in their own right, as these emerged as significant regarding management, strategic management and strategic management accounting in the higher education institution. The two factors that are given consideration are funding and market influences, and academia specific characteristics, such as division of disciplines within an institution due to funding disagreements, and loyalty to the discipline rather than the institution. Against the backdrop of most recent developments, such as cuts in the teaching budget and increased tuition fees, the factors play an even more important role. Furthermore, the causal relationship of these two factors is explored. Finally, the impact upon strategic management and financial management is discussed. Conclusions for practice are that it would seem necessary to introduce some form of strategic management, in order to be able to respond to the changing circumstances of the higher education sector.

title: Trends, issues and challenges in English language education in Pakistan
abstract: This paper aims to critically examine the trends, issues and challenges in policy and practice of English language education in Pakistan. This is done first by historically reviewing the English language education policies since Pakistan's independence in 1947, looking particularly at policy objectives, implementation strategies and outcomes, and the rationale for policy change. Second, the practice of teaching English in varied instructional settings is described. It is found that implementation lags far behind the major policy change in 1989 for "democratising" English. Furthermore, the consequences of using English as the medium of instruction are discussed in the light of recent policy advisories about using English for teaching science and mathematics from Grade 6 onwards in all Pakistani schools. Other issues and challenges in implementing the policy of mass literacy in English are also highlighted. It is argued that while policy decisions are driven mainly by global change forces, strategic planning for implementation that is informed by local conditions and exigencies is necessary for successful policy implementation. Otherwise, recent policy changes in Pakistan may be in danger of leading to widespread illiteracy, rather than literacy, in general but particularly in English.

title: The language planning situation in the Sultanate of Oman
abstract: This paper examines the language planning situation in the Sultanate of Oman with emphasis on the planning of Arabic, English, French and German, and their choice and spread in serving different interests and purposes. The paper explores the historical, social, political, and ideological processes and complexities of the language policy and planning (LPP) situation in the Sultanate. The discussion attempts to show that language planning, as carried out by the elites, is top down and ideologically oriented and motivated, as it favors certain knowledge and traditions, while marginalizing and oppressing others. A brief introductory history of Oman is followed by an account of the language profile of the country. The paper then examines the role of Language in Education Planning (LEP) in the spread of Arabic, English, French, and German in schools and higher education. It concludes that there is an ideological struggle, contest, and conflict at the LEP level resulting in a lack of strategic planning and organized effort affecting language choice, language spread, language contact, language preservation, language maintenance, and language shift. Finally, the paper recommends avenues for further research and ways forward for LPP and LEP in Oman.   American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages; AFL: Arabic as a Foreign Language; ALT: Arabic Language Teaching; BES: Basic Education System; BTEC: Business and Technology Education Council; CA: Colloquial Arabic; CEFR: Common European Framework; CELTA: Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults; CfBT: Center for British Teachers; CFO: Centre Franco Omanais; CLS: Critical Language Scholarship; CLT: Communicative Language Teaching; CoE: College of Education;  Diplomed'Etudes en Langue Francaise; DELTA: Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults; ELT: English Language Teaching; EMI: English medium instruction; FPEL: Foundation Program English Language; EU: European Union;  Gulf Cooperation Council Countries; GFP: General Foundation Program; GPA: Gulf Pidgin Arabic; GUtech: German University of Technology; H: High; ICC: Intercultural Communicative Competence;  Testing System; IESCO: Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; IGCSE: International General Certificate of Secondary Education; KSA: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; L: Low; LEP: Language in Education Planning; LPP: Language Policy and Planning; LWC: Language of Wider Communication; MENA: Middle East and North Africa;  Ministry of Higher Education; MSA: Modern Standard Arabic; NCATE: National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education; NRAA: National Records and Archive Authority; OAAA: Oman Academic Accreditation Authority; OIF: International Agency of La Francophonie; OPA: Oman Pidgin Arabic; OPEC: Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries; PDO: Petroleum Development Oman;  Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf;  Private Higher Education Institutions; QA: Quranic Arabic; RWTH: Rheinisch WestfalischeTechnischeHochschule;  Specialized Centre for Professional Training of Teachers; SQU: Sultan Qaboos University; TCF: Test de connaissance du Francais; TEF: Test d' Evaluation de Francais; TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language;  Test of English for International Communication;  Technological Vocational Education and Training;  Emirates;  United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization; ZD: Zertifikat Deutsch

title: Teacher sociolinguistic backgrounds: a multilinguistic domain approach to understand teacher agency and language planning outcomes
abstract: This paper examines the unintended consequences of state language policy and planning (LPP) that adopt subtractive approaches on teachers' subsequent receptivity to policy fine tuning. A comparative approach is adopted in this statistical study of two strategic contexts, where the influence of the world's two leading languages English and Mandarin manifests in the home language conversion patterns of ethnic Chinese teachers of Hong Kong and Singapore. The interplay among state, education, and family linguistic domains provides the framework to understand how teachers exercise agency underpinned by their sociolinguistic background (childhood home language CHL) and home language conversion preference (home language as adult HL) The results show that teacher CHL HL conversion preferences underlie their response to state LPP initiatives and influence LPP outcomes in the education domain. The results are theorized in terms of the prevailing values in Hong Kong and Singapore that shape teacher agency, the unintended outcomes of subtractive LPP in education, and the probable outcomes on the linguistic vitality of local and dominant languages in Hong Kong, with the interplay between future subtractive LPP and teacher agency.

title: Institutional learning and teaching strategies in English higher education
abstract: In 1998 the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)commissioned a survey of the extent to which institutional learning andteaching strategies were being used in English higher education. Thesurvey was seen by HEFCE as a necessary precursor to the enactment ofits policy decision to allocate a component of institutional funding onthe basis of the possession of (and subsequent activation of) aninstitutional learning and teaching strategy. Responses from 116institutions showed considerable variation in the extent to which theyhad developed a strategic approach to learning and teaching.Over the coming years there is likely to be a marked increase in thelevel and sophistication of strategic planning to develop learning andteaching across whole institutions. The article concludes by drawingupon the organisational development literature to suggest some ways inwhich this shift might be facilitated.

title: Educational Planning in the Eastern Caribbean: A Strategic Approach
abstract: The paper attempts to show that educational planning in the English speaking Caribbean and Surinam, is in a questionable state. Indeed, one can argue that any meaningful planning goes on in spite of, rather than as a result of formal planning by planning units where they exist. This of course raises questions with respect to efficient resource utilization. The paper argues that the available training bodies have concentrated on individual planners, and have failed to provide training in the development of planned systems, or planning as a process. The aspects of strategic planning recommended here, place specific emphasis on planning as a process, recognize the socio political imperatives in the management of education, and the essential bankruptcy of an approach that concentrates on a planner as the key factor in educational change.

title: Revealing stakeholders' perspectives on educational language policy in higher education through Q methodology
abstract: Qatar University is currently at a crossroads, having to respond to competing institutional, national, and international language policy issues. This paper aims to reveal how Qatar University's internal and external stakeholders perceive the future directions of the university's language in education policy. In particular, through Q methodology, we attempt to uncover social perspectives on three educational language policy options, proposed to the university's higher administration, by the strategic planning team, to respond to pressing linguistic needs and priorities. The aim is to initiate and support a more informed discussion about language in education policy at Qatar University. Results indicate strong agreement among the various perspectives taken by the university's stakeholders regarding the need for a language in education policy that seeks to manage the relationship between Arabic and English in a parallel way.