Colin Lacey

The press and public access to the environment and development debate

This paper presents an analysis of some aspects of newspaper coverage of environment and development issues. In particular, Global Warming and the Sudan famine are used as case studies of the features of this coverage. It argues that there are few grounds for adopting the optimistic view, as taken by some researchers, that the press will sustain and deepen its reporting of these issues. The analysis uses a computer-based methodology in which a key feature is the use of full-text on-line database of the contents of four newspapers. This paper presents the first steps in applying this methodology to the investigation of press reporting. It shows how the broad quantitative indicators available from this source can illustrate comparative patterns of newspaper coverage over long time periods and a wide range of themes. The ultimate purpose of this analysis is to understand the processes which contribute to informing or educating public debate about issues that crucially affect the political and economic future of society. The argument is that the press docs educate the public (its readers) but that this process is highly selective, it can contradict espoused editorial policy, and frequently environment and development issues receive less prominence as their political significance increases. The analysis shows therefore that in many cases the coverage given to these issues actually declines even as their significance increases. The authors argue that a social solution is required if the press is to be re-established as a public educator in a more positive sense. Methods must be developed for monitoring and influencing the processes by which the press manipulates the climate of opinion whilst nurturing its readership. One approach to this problem is taken by the Education Networks for Environment and Development Project at Sussex University where the results of this type of analysis are used to inform an open network of workers in a variety of professional institutions. Future investigations will look in more detail at this concept.

Evaluating the Andhra Pradesh Primary Education Project: problems of design and analysis

This paper outlines the main features of the Andhra Pradesh Primary Education Project (APPEP) and goes on to describe some of the main problems encountered in the design and analysis of the Projects evaluation. Issues in the conceptualisation and conduct of the evaluation are discussed, with particular attention being given to problems of gathering valid and reliable data in a Third World context.

Training teachers for a small island system: short-term and long-term outcomes

Ten years ago the Seychelles Polytechnic initiated a joint teacher-training scheme with Sussex University and in five years trained 100 new Seychellois teachers for the secondary school system. This scheme a numerical balance in favour of Seychellois teachers for the first time. The influx of Seychellois teachers produced a number of immediate advantages: there was a saving in the salary budget, the new teachers were able to supplement their lessons conducted in English with explanations in Kreol, and they also used a wider variety of teaching methods. They were more committed to teaching and were much preferred by the secondary school students. This paper presents findings from evaluations of the scheme. It describes the situation produced by the returnees, and follows this up with an analysis of the major developments since the scheme came to an end and since the four-year government bonding period of teachers ended. The final section of the paper discusses in more general terms the sustainability of education development projects and the implications for the progressive improvement of schemes.

Gender Integration in the Infant Classroom: a case study

This article is about gender association in the primary classroom and organisational strategies which may influence gender integration. It reports the findings of a small-scale research project which explored the effects of a classroom innovation. Implemented by a class teacher, the innovation was designed to promote gender equality. The effects of strategies to increase gender integration in the infant classroom are discussed in relation to cross-gender friendships as well as gender differentiation between subjects. The article argues that the way a teacher organises groups in the classroom can be an influential factor in the degree of gender integration which occurs.

Making sense of large-scale evaluation data: The case of the Andhra Pradesh primary education project

Abstract This article discusses problems of interpreting and analysing large-scale evaluation data with respect to a particular education project in a developing country context. An account is given of how an heuristic model of project implementation, impact and evaluation was generated. Specific findings related to aspects of the model are presented which illustrate both the efficacy of the model and some of the achievements of the project to date.

Despatches from the doze-zone

TWO RECENT ARTICLES in the British Journalism Review made important contributions to the continuing debate about media coverage of environmental issues. Alison Anderson and Ivor Gaber (Vol. 4, No. 2) were concerned that media interest in the environment is on the wane. They correctly pointed out that media attention to environment affairs is cyclical and &dquo;propelled by its perceived importance on the political agenda&dquo;. However, this is a broad generalisation and true of most issues. It must also be remembered that not all &dquo;political issues&dquo; are equal and some are more comfortable to live with than others; and that this kind of explanation merely shifts the cause of the problem from the media, and provides an alibi for