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1 – 10 of over 11000Angela Oulton and Susan Jagger
The research on the positive effects of children’s learning in and with nature is persuasive yet a deeper examination of the contemporary and historical discourses suggests that…
Abstract
The research on the positive effects of children’s learning in and with nature is persuasive yet a deeper examination of the contemporary and historical discourses suggests that the school garden has been neither welcoming nor accessible to all children. Its detrimental effects on groups of children have been masked within the discourses of urban children’s health and wellbeing, environmental stewardship, and children’s connection with nature. The school garden has been used historically to enact adult agendas to contain and protect urban children from the social ills of modernity; civilise and assimilate marginalised, impoverished, and immigrant groups; and make future industrial and agricultural labourers who would in turn, entrench the white affluent society’s economic and social positions. In this sense, the school garden was used to reinforce patriarchal, colonial, white supremacist, and eugenic aspirations. We consider the school garden movement in North America through a discourse analysis of historical school garden texts to explore how childhoods were culturally constructed and how these discourses have influenced children both in the past and present.
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Shivani Chouhan, Aishwarya Narang and Mahua Mukherjee
In the event of a disaster, educational institutions like schools serve as lifeline buildings. Hence, it is crucial to safeguard these buildings for the communities that may…
Abstract
Purpose
In the event of a disaster, educational institutions like schools serve as lifeline buildings. Hence, it is crucial to safeguard these buildings for the communities that may depend on the school as a disaster shelter and aid center. Thus, this paper aims to conduct a multihazard risk assessment survey at 50 schools (with 246 building blocks) in Dehradun.
Design methodology approach
The past few decades have witnessed the impact of multihazard frequency in Uttarakhand, India, due to the geographical features of the Himalayas and its neo-tectonic mountain-building process. Dehradun is the capital of Uttarakhand state and comes under seismic zone IV, which is highly prone to earthquakes.
Findings
The hazard assessment is divided into two types of surveys: first, building-level surveys that include rapid visual screening, nonstructural risk assessment and fire safety audit, and second, campus-level surveys that include vulnerability analysis for earthquake, flood, industrial hazard, landslide and wind.
Social implications
This paper will list several gaps and unrecognized practices in the region that increase the schools’ multihazard risk. The study’s outcome will help prioritize the planning of disaster awareness, retrofitting execution, future construction practices and decision-making to minimize the risk and prepare the school for the upcoming disasters.
Originality value
Physical data were collected by the author to determine the multihazard risk analysis in 50 schools in the Dehradun District of Uttarakhand, India. The building- and campus-level surveys have been used to generate a database for the retrofit and renovation process for each individual school to use their budget fruitfully and in a planned way. The survey conducted is more effort and a more detailed risk evaluation which necessitates effectively mitigating and ensuring the potential safety of the region’s schools.
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Yu Guo Wang and I Ta Wang
With a focus on undergraduate music major students in China, the study sought to examine how higher music education institutions prepare professional knowledge, professional…
Abstract
Purpose
With a focus on undergraduate music major students in China, the study sought to examine how higher music education institutions prepare professional knowledge, professional skills and soft skills in relevance to music students' employability.
Design/methodology/approach
The quantitative survey engaged 359 music students from five music institutions in Western China to report their perceptions toward music curriculum related to employability. The current study examined whether their perception varied based on their gender, location, school, educational background and professional option purpose.
Findings
Perception differences in the music curriculum were observed across gender, schools, educational background and professional option purpose. School differences were the most significant among all five factors, followed by professional option purpose, educational background and gender. The location difference was insignificant among the five factors. There were insufficient opportunities for community and industrial engagement in higher music education.
Originality/value
The current study provides an insight into the higher music education curriculum for employability preparation in current China. This is one of the limited empirical studies in Western China to investigate music students' perceptions of professional knowledge and skills and the soft skill line with employability. The findings can serve as a reference for prospective employees in the music industry, policymaking and curriculum design and future research.
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Mariechen Benz-Camino, Martha T. Ramírez-Valdivia, Marjorie Morales-Casetti and Danilo Sirias
This paper aims to present the lessons learned during the design and implementation of a quality assurance system (QAS) in an academic unit and considers the regulatory changes to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present the lessons learned during the design and implementation of a quality assurance system (QAS) in an academic unit and considers the regulatory changes to institutional accreditation in Chilean higher education, the international standard ISO 21001:2018, and the stakeholders’ requirements.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses an abductive approach to identify and evaluate the key factors to implementing a QAS in higher education institutions (HEI). Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through questionnaires, semistructured interviews, focus groups with stakeholders, a literature review and official institutional documents. Documents and interviews were subjected to content analysis using a process of inductive coding to identify and define topics or categories. A descriptive statistical analysis of categorical variables calculated the marginal frequency of each response. All information aided in designing the QAS for the school and its implementation plan.
Findings
This study highlights major challenges universities could face while implementing QAS, illuminating key principles and reflecting relevant practices. The lessons learned in this process show the importance of balancing accountability and continuous improvement while promoting a more receptive organizational culture, aligning the national and international standards in the early design stage, understanding the roles and responsibilities of the staff, having the support of a quality office and performing a gap analysis.
Originality/value
This work provides other HEI in need of designing and implementing a QAS with a conceptual and solid framework to integrate internal, external and international regulations of quality assurance criteria and standards. This paper could become a valuable reference for university managers, practitioners and quality professionals facing similar challenges.
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The objective of this research is to explore integration and transition activities in large industrial projects. The purpose is to (a) obtain a better understanding of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this research is to explore integration and transition activities in large industrial projects. The purpose is to (a) obtain a better understanding of the integration and transition activities between the project front-end (FE) and project initiation phases (PIPs), (b) explore what, how and when these integrations and transitions occur, and (c) explore what the integration and transition activities mean to project practitioners.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research design methodology is followed, based on interviews using open-ended questions. An expert panel is used to provide responses to questions pertaining to the integration and transition between the project FE and PIP. The research is focused on managing large projects in the South African electrical engineering industrial projects industry. A literature review combined with empirical analysis reflects the importance of integrating and transitioning in project business.
Findings
The findings provide guidance to researchers and practitioners on integration and transition mechanisms, how and when these occur. It highlights the benefits of integration and transition activities. Important lessons for researchers and practitioners are provided together with areas for future research.
Originality/value
This is an interpretative analysis of expert opinion. Expert panel members are experienced at senior decision-making level, and their expertise was accessed based on experience, education and knowledge. This extensive experience is shared in this paper providing insights into their opinions, experiences, success and failures. These inputs together with the literature review provide interesting implications for both a theoretical foundation as well as practical implications for practitioners.
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Rebecca Ozanne, Jane L. Ireland, Carol A. Ireland and Abigail Thornton
The purpose of this study is to build on previous literature in this area thus, the views of professionals working with those who report institutional abuse was sought using a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to build on previous literature in this area thus, the views of professionals working with those who report institutional abuse was sought using a Delphi method.
Design/methodology/approach
Professionals working with those who report institutional abuse, such as psychologists, social workers and personal injury lawyers, were invited to engage in the Delphi study. Sixteen professionals completed the final round (with four rounds in total). This method was used to gain professional consensus on the considered impacts of institutional child abuse and what factors influence impacts.
Findings
Eight superordinate themes were developed, as follows: institutional abuse has lasting negative effects on well-being, functioning and behaviour; loss of trust in others and the system is a potential outcome of institutional abuse; negative impacts on future life chances; negative impacts of institutional abuse are exacerbated by numerous factors; protective factors reduced negative impacts; psychological intervention is useful for survivors; positive and negative impacts of disclosure – the response of others as important; and keep impacts individualised.
Practical implications
The need for an individualised approach when working with those reporting institutional abuse was a salient finding.
Originality/value
Institutional abuse is known to result in several negative impacts, although research into this area is limited with a need to better understand what may protect or exacerbate impacts.
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Faisal Rasool, Marco Greco, Gustavo Morales-Alonso and Ruth Carrasco-Gallego
This study aims to examine and understand the impact of reverse logistics adoption on firms' digitalization and collaboration activities. Specifically, leveraging the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine and understand the impact of reverse logistics adoption on firms' digitalization and collaboration activities. Specifically, leveraging the knowledge-based view, this study examines how adopting sustainable logistic practices (reverse logistics) prepares firms to embrace digitalization and encourages them to collaborate with other organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used longitudinal survey data from two waves (2017 and 2019) from the Mannheim Centre for European Economic Research. The authors used the negative binomial regression analyses to test the impact of reverse logistics adoption on the digitalization and inter-organizational collaboration dependent count variables.
Findings
The study's findings highlight the usefulness of reverse logistics in enabling digitalization and inter-organizational collaboration. The results show that the firms investing in sustainable supply chains will be better positioned to nurture digitalization and inter-organizational collaboration.
Practical implications
For resource-bound managers, this study provides an important insight into prioritizing activities by highlighting how reverse logistics can facilitate digitalization and collaboration. The study demonstrates that the knowledge generated by reverse logistics adoption can be an essential pillar and enabler toward achieving firms' digitalization and collaboration goals.
Originality/value
The study is among the first to examine the effect of reverse logistics adoption on firm activities that are not strictly associated with the circular economy (digitalization and collaboration). Utilizing the knowledge-based view, this study reports on the additional benefits of reverse logistics implementation previously not discussed in the literature.
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Cultural heritage and memory are essential mechanisms for the formation of individual and group identity, contributing to a sense of belonging in society. More specifically, built…
Abstract
Cultural heritage and memory are essential mechanisms for the formation of individual and group identity, contributing to a sense of belonging in society. More specifically, built heritage (the buildings, structures and monuments associated with our cultural history) reflect our individual and collective decisions about what is important to preserve and remember into the future, further shaping our identities as citizens of Waterford. Thus, our relationship with heritage is just as much about looking forward into our social imagination for the future of Waterford city as it is about reflecting on our past.
Sites of Conscience are a specific type of built heritage which signify a society's belief that by remembering difficult pasts we can interrogate our current lived realities and create meaningful change in the future (International Coalition for Sites of Consciousness, 2022). Sites of Conscience are akin to what French historian Pierre Nora (1989) referred to as ‘les lieux de mémoire’, or places of memory. These physical spaces can connect past traumas and struggles to our present lives. As places of memory which ask us to acknowledge the past, Sites of Conscience can prevent the erasure of historical traumas and stand as an act of restorative justice, providing safe spaces for citizens to engage with difficult memories.
One such site of conscience in Waterford is the complex of buildings located at the College Street Campus of the South East Technological University. The site comprises the former convent of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd of Angers (commonly known as the Good Shepherd Sisters); the St Mary's Good Shepherd (Magdalene) Laundry; and St Dominick's Industrial School. The site was occupied in 1884 and the Laundry operated until its closure in 1982 (Department of Justice, 2013). This chapter will consider the former Magdalene Laundry and Industrial School's cultural and heritage significance to Waterford as a site of conscience, which encourages the citizens of Waterford not only to connect our past to our present, but to connect these memories to current actions to create a more just society into the future.
The built heritage of this complex acts as a powerful memory aide of a shared local history, allowing citizens to connect this past to related contemporary human rights issues. In this way, the former Laundry and Industrial School can stimulate discussions on gendered violence today, or to interrogate modern forms of institutionalisation such as Direct Provision. The chapter will further consider how these connections are even more important when our need to remember and recognise past atrocities are met with social, political, economic or cultural pressure to forget. Sometimes the desire for erasure is understandable; we want to commit events to the past and move on. However, such erasure can further disempower survivors of these institutions; prevent current and future generations from learning critical lessons; and dismantle future opportunities for healing and reconciliation. In this context, Sites of Conscience offer an opportunity to connect a difficult past to visions of a more socially just city of the future.
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This paper presents an historical reconstruction of the radicalisation of Alan Fox, the industrial sociologist and a detailed analysis of his early historical and sociological…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper presents an historical reconstruction of the radicalisation of Alan Fox, the industrial sociologist and a detailed analysis of his early historical and sociological writing in the classical pluralist phase.
Design/methodology/approach
An intellectual history, including detailed discussion of key Fox texts, supported by interviews with Fox and other Biographical sources.
Findings
Fox’s radicalisation was incomplete, as he carried over from his industrial relations (IR) pluralist mentors, Allan Flanders and Hugh Clegg, a suspicion of political Marxism, a sense of historical contingency and an awareness of the fragmented nature of industrial conflict.
Originality/value
Recent academic attention has centred on Fox’s later radical pluralism with its “structural” approach to the employment relationship. This paper revisits his early, neglected classical pluralist writing. It also illuminates his transition from institutional IR to a broader sociology of work, influenced by AH Halsey, John Goldthorpe and others and the complex nature of his radicalisation.
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Alireza Bakhshi, Amir Aghsami and Masoud Rabbani
Unfortunately, the occurrence of natural disasters is inevitable all over the world. Hence, this paper aims to analyze a scenario-based collaborative problem in a relief supply…
Abstract
Purpose
Unfortunately, the occurrence of natural disasters is inevitable all over the world. Hence, this paper aims to analyze a scenario-based collaborative problem in a relief supply chain (RSC), where nongovernmental organizations can participate in relief activities with governmental organizations. This study focuses on location-allocation, inventory management and distribution planning under uncertain demand, budget, transportation and holding costs where government and private distribution centers receive relief items from suppliers then send them to affected areas. The performance of the proposed model is surveyed in a real case study in Dorud.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper develops a nonlinear mixed-integer programming model that seeks to maximize the coverage of demand points and minimize operating costs and traveled distance. The linear programming-metric technique and grasshopper optimization algorithm are applied to survey the model's applicability and efficiency.
Findings
This study compares noncollaborative and collaborative cases in terms of the number of applied distribution centers and RSC's goals, then demonstrates that the collaborative model not only improves the coverage of demand points but also minimizes cost and traveled distance. In fact, the presented approach helps governments efficiently surmount problems created after a disaster, notwithstanding existing uncertainties, by determining a strategic plan for collaboration with nongovernmental organizations for relief activities.
Originality/value
Relief strategies considered in previous research have not been sufficiently examined from the perspective of collaboration of governmental and nongovernmental organizations and provided an approach to develop the coverage of affected areas and reducing costs and traveled distance despite various uncertainties. Hence, the authors aim to manage RSCs better by offering a mathematical model whose performance has been proved in a real case study.
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