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Distance Education and Community Learning Networks linked by a Library of CultureHumans are relational beings with their modeled behavior as practical examples of cultural routines that they hear, see, read, and assemble on their own from communal pieces of information to answer the needs of their everyday lives (Bandura, & Jeffrey, 1973). Yet few researchers have looked at the differing synthesis of culture and generally assume that others share similar ideas/values that lead to particular events and worldviews (Lillard, p.5 1998). Informational and cultural contact zones can be created to support CLNs, universities, and individuals in a variety of roles to encourage their interactions so they might design, and challenge the fundamentals of these programs and seek to better cooperation amongst the public itself (Tremmel, 2000). By increasing communication and collaboration of educational systems throughout the community will begin to raise the standard of living for all people (Bohn, & Schmidt, 2008). This will begin to draw people out from the digital divide and increase the access of technology and information available to all people with the community. Utilizing CLNs to support and further education will allow an interconnected web of assessments, standards, and cooperative efforts that has the potential of increasing democracy by empowering people from their communities.
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Cultural Heritage and Development : A Framework for Action in the Middle East and North AfricaThe countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are blessed with an extraordinary cultural patrimony, secular and religious, of huge importance for each country and for humankind at large. The region is home to 48 sites already inscribed on the world heritage list maintained by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and has an enormous nonmaterial heritage as well. The Middle East is also the cradle of the world's major monotheistic religions. This cultural patrimony is a cornerstone of many people's existence and nourishes their daily lives. It must continue to flourish. This report analyzes the cultural heritage sector in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, and the World Bank's policy and operational experiences in this sector over the past six years, 1996-2001. It has three objectives: 1) to explore the characteristics, capacities, needs, and constraints of the region's cultural sector and their relevance to overall country development; 2) to take stock, describe, and analyze the World Bank's past and current support for preservation and management of the region's cultural heritage; and 3) to extract the lessons of experience and define the strategy framework for future Bank assistance for preserving and managing the MENA region's patrimony.
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The Application of the Mindfulness Framework to the Study of Intercultural CompetenceAlthough a growing body of evidence has looked at the beneficial impact of mindfulness practice in a number of domains (e.g., improvement of mental health and psychological well-being, physical health, behavioral regulation, relationship and social interaction quality; see Baer, 2003; Brown et al., 2007), very little empirical research has been conducted or focused on the role that mindfulness could play in better understanding intercultural relations and related issues (e.g., intercultural competence development and training, intercultural adaptation and effectiveness). As such, the purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the relationship between mindfulness and intercultural competence, and more specifically investigate the extent to which there exists a direct or indirect relationship between these constructs. Although empirical evidence suggests that numerous mechanisms could be at play (see Shapiro et al., 2006), there are no theories or models specifically looking at the construct of mindfulness and the means by which it could potentially impact the development of intercultural competence. By drawing on the seminal work of Shapiro et al. (2006), two studies were conducted to test an integrative framework to highlight the presence of such a relationship and investigate the mediating role played by these different mechanisms, including (a) decentering, (b) exposure, (c) flexibility/rigidity, (d) self-regulation/self-management, and (e) value clarification. After steps were taken to ensure that the measurement properties of the different indices or psychometric instruments were meeting an acceptable standard across both studies, results generally indicated that mindfulness was indeed related to a number of intercultural competence indices, and that this relationship tended to be partially mediated by a number of mediating variables or mechanisms of action (i.e., exposure, flexibility/ rigidity, self-regulation/self-management, and value-clarification). Overall, these results tend to suggest that applying the mindfulness framework to the study of intercultural competence is likely to generate a number of interesting insights and greatly benefit both research and practice.