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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 8 January 2024

Michael DiCicco and Shawn A. Faulkner

The paper identifies and explores the perspectives of middle school educators regarding the benefits and challenges of an ongoing, emerging school–university partnership. Over…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper identifies and explores the perspectives of middle school educators regarding the benefits and challenges of an ongoing, emerging school–university partnership. Over five years, professors at one comprehensive, Midwestern university, formed a partnership with a local middle school. While progress has been made to develop the partnership, the authors recognized a lack of shared governance (Essential 7). In particular, they were unsure the partnership was mutually beneficial. The authors interviewed teachers, the principal, assistant principals, guidance counselors, the instructional coach and the youth service center director to gain their perspectives on the partnership.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used an intrinsic, evaluative case study to examine educators perceptions of the benefits and challenges of the partnership (Guba & Lincoln, 1981; Patton, 2002). This approach was used because within this bounded system the authors have an interest in obtaining information to help improve the program and partnership.

Findings

Results suggest the partnership was beneficial in a number of ways including hiring of and offering fresh ideas to teachers. Educators also felt there were many benefits for university candidates. Challenges included scheduling, technology access and candidate disposition. Implications are discussed.

Research limitations/implications

Inherent within the research methodology, researchers’ inclusion in the data collection process may affect participants responses.

Practical implications

Researchers discuss the implications of this work, including the role of hiring candidates and clear articulation of a mission for the partnership.

Originality/value

This work adds to research on school site stakeholders’ perspectives on the value of school–university partnerships and includes teachers and the schools’ entire leadership team.

Details

School-University Partnerships, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1935-7125

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 26 March 2024

Laura Hedin, Lydia Gerzel-Short, Lisa Liberty and Jason Pope

District-university partners increasingly rely on “grow-your-own” licensure programs to address teacher shortages. Because vacancies in special education represent a chronic…

Abstract

Purpose

District-university partners increasingly rely on “grow-your-own” licensure programs to address teacher shortages. Because vacancies in special education represent a chronic issue, our district-university partnership developed LEAP – the Licensed Educators’ Accelerated Pathway, successfully preparing 26 paraprofessionals as special education teachers (SEs). We describe a model university-district partnership in which we collaborated to design and implement paraprofessionals’ SE licensure program.

Design/methodology/approach

In this general review, we describe a district-university partnership collaboration that resolved barriers experienced by paraprofessionals working toward licensure in special education (Essential #4, Reflection and Innovation). The specialized design and partnership solutions were grounded in SE preparation research literature.

Findings

25 (28 entered the program and 25 completed) paraprofessionals from one large urban and several regional districts completed special education licensure through LEAP. Slightly more than half of LEAP participants were Black or Hispanic (see Table 1), contributing to the diversification of SE workforce. University-district partnership was successful in designing and delivering a program that allowed participants: a) to remain employed, b) attend evening classes in their geographic region or online, c) complete all field experiences in sponsoring districts (Essential #2) and d) receive concierge advising from a “completion coach.” We describe solutions to barriers experienced by paraprofessionals and advocate for district-university collaboration to address chronic teacher shortages.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include lack of data on success of program completers during their first year of teaching as they began this work in Fall 2023. Further, because the participating district was large and urban, generalization of program details for small and rural districts is difficult.

Practical implications

Practical tips for developing grow-your-own special education licensure programs are providing. Detailed descriptions of barriers candidates experienced and ways the district-university partners resolved these issues are included. Programs like the one described has the potential to positively impact teacher pipeline issues.

Social implications

The program described provided highly-trained teachers to fill chronic vacancies in special education in three participating districts/agencies. Because students receiving special education services are at risk for school failure and are disproportionately impacted by teacher turnover, addressing this area through grow-your-own licensure programs represents a diversity, equity and inclusion initiative. Further, upskilling diverse paraprofessionals to licensed teacher roles represent an economic boost, which they might not otherwise have achieved.

Originality/value

Available research literature signals alarm over persistent teacher shortages in hard-to-staff districts and lack of diversity in the teacher workforce, but few published accounts describe successful programs. Partner collaboration fostered a re-imagining of course formatting and delivery to accommodate adult learners, avoiding problems often reported with alternative programs.

Details

PDS Partners: Bridging Research to Practice, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2833-2040

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 February 2024

Agnieszka Nowinska and Marte C.W. Solheim

The purposes of this paper are to delve into the “liability of foreignness” among immigrants and to explore factors that may enhance or moderate such liability while obtaining…

Abstract

Purpose

The purposes of this paper are to delve into the “liability of foreignness” among immigrants and to explore factors that may enhance or moderate such liability while obtaining jobs in host countries. We explore the competition for jobs in a host country among foreign-born individuals from various backgrounds and local residents, by examining such factors as their human capital, as well as, for the foreign-born, their duration of residence in the host country.

Design/methodology/approach

Applying configurational theorizing, we propose that the presence of specific human capital can help reduce the challenges associated with the “liability of foreignness” for migrants who have shorter durations of stay in the host country, and, to a lesser extent, for female migrants. Our study draws upon extensive career data spanning several decades and involving 249 employees within a Danish multinational enterprise.

Findings

We find that specific human capital helps established immigrants in general, although female immigrants are more vulnerable. We furthermore find a strong “gender liability” in the industry even for local females, including returnees in the host countries. Our findings suggest that for immigrants, including returnees, career building requires a mix of right human capital and tenure in the host country, and that career building is especially challenging for female immigrants.

Originality/value

While the concept of “liability of foreignness” – focussing on discrimination faced by immigrants in the labour market – has been brought to the fore, a notable gap exists in empirical research pertaining to studies aiming at disentangling potential means to overcome such liability, as well as in studies seeking to explore this issue from a stance of gendered experience.

Details

Journal of Global Mobility: The Home of Expatriate Management Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-8799

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2024

Kelly Chandler-Olcott, Sharon Dotger, Heather E. Waymouth, Keith Newvine, Kathleen A. Hinchman, Molly C. Lahr, Michael T. Crosby and Janine Nieroda

This study reports on changes made within the study, plan, teach and reflect steps of lesson study with pre-service teachers who were learning to teach within a disciplinary…

Abstract

Purpose

This study reports on changes made within the study, plan, teach and reflect steps of lesson study with pre-service teachers who were learning to teach within a disciplinary literacy course.

Design/methodology/approach

Using methods associated with formative experiments and design-based research, this study gathered data over four iterations of the disciplinary literacy course. Data included the course materials, pre-service teachers’ written work, observational notes from research lessons, transcripts of post-lesson discussions and teacher-educators’ analysis sessions and pre-service teachers’ post-program interviews. Data were analyzed within and across iterations.

Findings

Initial adjustments to the lesson study process focused on the reflect step, as we learned to better scaffold pre-service teachers sharing of observational data from research lessons. Later adjustments occurred in the study and plan steps, as we refined the design of four-day lesson sequences that better supported pre-service teachers’ attention to disciplinary literacy while providing room for their instructional mentors to provide specific team-based feedback. Adjustments to the teach step included reteaching and more explicit attention to literacy objectives.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature by explicitly applying formative experiment and design-based research methods to the implementation of lesson study with pre-service teachers. Furthermore, it contributes examples of lesson study within a disciplinary literacy context, expanding the examples of lesson study’s applicability across content areas.

Details

International Journal for Lesson & Learning Studies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-8253

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 November 2023

Carolyn Casale, C. Adrainne Thomas and Ahlam Alma Bazzi

This research study provides insight into students’ perceptions of teaching through virtual and face-to-face clinicals in an introductory education course in a pre-education…

Abstract

Purpose

This research study provides insight into students’ perceptions of teaching through virtual and face-to-face clinicals in an introductory education course in a pre-education program at a minority-serving institution.

Design/methodology/approach

This study took place at an urban–suburban-centered community college in the Midwestern United States and was reviewed by the higher education institutional review board (IRB). Data were collected from pre-education majors enrolled in a four-hour Introduction to Education with field experiences.

Findings

The findings indicated that both virtual and face-to-face clinicals were beneficial to the development of pre-service teachers, particularly in an early introduction to education course.

Research limitations/implications

The finding that virtual clinicals are significant to teacher growth is significant to teacher recruitment and preparation.

Practical implications

The flexibility of a virtual clinical provides greater opportunities for low-income and marginalized populations with limited means and access.

Social implications

This finding can lead to strategies to diversify teacher candidates.

Originality/value

This study sought to answer the following question: how do pre-education students reflect to understand the roles and responsibilities of teaching through virtual options vs face-to-face clinicals? The interest of this research is to expand pathways into the teaching profession to nontraditional, ethnically and culturally marginalized groups and historically underrepresented groups.

Details

School-University Partnerships, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1935-7125

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 April 2024

Allyson Holbrook, Erika Spray, Rachel Burke, Kylie M. Shaw and Jayne Carruthers

Highly developed and agile learners who can clearly convey and call on their skills are sought in all walks of life. Diverse demand for these capacities has called attention to…

Abstract

Purpose

Highly developed and agile learners who can clearly convey and call on their skills are sought in all walks of life. Diverse demand for these capacities has called attention to how the skills and knowledge gained during doctoral study can be conveyed, translated and leveraged in non-academic settings; however, the complex learning reality underneath doctoral development is challenging to convey.

Design/methodology/approach

The data set for this particular analysis was obtained from 245 in-depth telephone interviews with PhD candidates collected prior to COVID-19. Candidates were asked about learning processes, challenges and changes, and both the questions and thematic analysis were guided by theories of doctoral development and transformational learning.

Findings

For many participants, learning and development were not familiar topics, while a small proportion deflected questions about learning altogether. One fifth of participants presented rich and lucid accounts of learning in which cognisance of complexity, metacognitive processes and transformational experiences were embedded and multiple avenues of development were in evidence. They were well-placed to convey the complexion of doctoral development. Candidates more deeply engaged in learning also commented more about changes they noticed in themselves. The most identified avenue of development was in understanding and approach to knowledge.

Originality/value

Candidate communication about learning and development is an under-explored dimension of doctoral experience and skill that is relevant to advancing knowledge about doctoral development and illuminating graduate potential both within and outside academe. This must constitute a key element of the re-vitalisation of the doctorate post-pandemic. The salience of framing transferable skills within a learning development perspective is discussed.

Details

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4686

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 April 2024

Melike Artar, Yavuz Selim Balcioglu and Oya Erdil

Our proposed machine learning model contributes to improving the quality of Hire by providing a more nuanced and comprehensive analysis of candidate attributes. Instead of…

Abstract

Purpose

Our proposed machine learning model contributes to improving the quality of Hire by providing a more nuanced and comprehensive analysis of candidate attributes. Instead of focusing solely on obvious factors, such as qualifications and experience, our model also considers various dimensions of fit, including person-job fit and person-organization fit. By integrating these dimensions of fit into the model, we can better predict a candidate’s potential contribution to the organization, hence enhancing the Quality of Hire.

Design/methodology/approach

Within the scope of the investigation, the competencies of the personnel working in the IT department of one in the largest state banks of the country were used. The entire data collection includes information on 1,850 individual employees as well as 13 different characteristics. For analysis, Python’s “keras” and “seaborn” modules were used. The Gower coefficient was used to determine the distance between different records.

Findings

The K-NN method resulted in the formation of five clusters, represented as a scatter plot. The axis illustrates the cohesion that exists between things (employees) that are similar to one another and the separateness that exists between things that have their own individual identities. This shows that the clustering process is effective in improving both the degree of similarity within each cluster and the degree of dissimilarity between clusters.

Research limitations/implications

Employee competencies were evaluated within the scope of the investigation. Additionally, other criteria requested from the employee were not included in the application.

Originality/value

This study will be beneficial for academics, professionals, and researchers in their attempts to overcome the ongoing obstacles and challenges related to the securing the proper talent for an organization. In addition to creating a mechanism to use big data in the form of structured and unstructured data from multiple sources and deriving insights using ML algorithms, it contributes to the debates on the quality of hire in an entire organization. This is done in addition to developing a mechanism for using big data in the form of structured and unstructured data from multiple sources.

Details

Management Decision, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 February 2024

Sophie Hennekam and Kayla Follmer

This article provides an overview of lessons we can learn from human resource (HR) policies and practices related to neurodiversity.

Abstract

Purpose

This article provides an overview of lessons we can learn from human resource (HR) policies and practices related to neurodiversity.

Design/methodology/approach

We conducted a practice-based review using information obtained from organizations’ websites, summarized the information and reflected on how scholars can continue to advance this area of research based on what is happening in practice.

Findings

The review provided a selective overview of programs and practices per HR cluster: selection and recruitment; onboarding, integration and retention; job design; flexible work options and working remotely; training; employee resource groups (ESGs) and support. The review provides a description of practices and policies implemented within organizations that focus on neurodiversity among employees.

Originality/value

Our review showed that organizations have a multitude of HR practices and policies in place to include neurodivergent individuals in their workforces, though many of these have not been empirically investigated. Sharing this knowledge is important so that research insights and practice can reciprocally influence one another.

Details

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7149

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 March 2024

Ariel Cornett and Erin Piedmont

Place-based, social studies teaching and learning has the potential to foster engaged citizens connected and committed to improving their communities. This study explored the…

Abstract

Purpose

Place-based, social studies teaching and learning has the potential to foster engaged citizens connected and committed to improving their communities. This study explored the research question, “In what ways do classroom and field-based experiences prepare teacher candidates (TCs) to make connections between place-based education and elementary social studies education?”

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative case study examined how elementary TCs learned about, researched, curated and created place-based social studies educational resources related to community sites. Data collection included TCs’ Pre- and Post-Course Reflections as well as Self-Evaluations, which were analyzed using an inductive approach and multiple rounds of concept coding. Several themes emerged through data analysis.

Findings

The authors organized their findings around three themes: connections (i.e. place becomes personal), immersion (i.e. learning about place to learning in place) and bridge building (i.e. local as classroom). The classroom and field-based experiences in the elementary social studies methods course informed the ways in which TCs learned about and connected to the concept of place, experienced place in a specific place (i.e. downtown Statesboro, Georgia), and reflected upon the myriad ways that they could utilize place in their future elementary social studies classrooms.

Originality/value

TCs (as well as in-service teachers and teacher educators) must become more informed, connected and committed to places within their local communities in order to consider them as resources for elementary social studies teaching and learning.

Details

Social Studies Research and Practice, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1933-5415

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 July 2023

Meital Amzalag and Omri Shoval

This study aims to examine core professional competencies required by organizational learning (OL) field, using the main knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) theoretical…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine core professional competencies required by organizational learning (OL) field, using the main knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) theoretical framework for job candidates in Israel.

Design/methodology/approach

An analysis was conducted on 100 job postings from two online platforms using content analysis techniques. The job offers were evaluated according to criteria established by prior research conducted in the USA.

Findings

The findings indicate that job announcements appear for three main professions in the field of learning in organizations in Israel: learning designer, learning developer and instructional designer. Most of the offers are for full-time jobs, without requiring a relevant academic degree or previous experience. In comparison to the US employment market, in Israel the demand for OL professionals necessitates communication abilities in English, macro development skills, knowing how to manage professional training and mastery of learning through innovative technology such as augmented reality/virtual reality. The findings also indicated which competencies are most recently required in the OL branch in Israel and the significant differences in KSA necessary for OL professionals in each of the three identified professions.

Practical implications

The study highlighted critical elements of the OL professional field and has implications for OL professionals seeking employment and human resources (HR) recruiters seeking them. Job seekers need to know the current job market requirements in the OL field, and HR recruiters need to know what is happening in the current job market. This can be done by following updated job offers in the OL field and responding quickly to changes. The findings also have implications for the educational/academic aspect of the OL teachers in various settings and inform them to refine the content of their syllabus and course content in accordance with the current requirements of the job market in the field of OL.

Originality/value

The study is based on the KSA theoretical framework and analysis of the OL US job market according to Wang et al.’s (2021) work. This study presents the Israel OL job market and discuss the authors’ critical view on Wang et al.’s work.

Details

European Journal of Training and Development, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-9012

Keywords

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