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1 – 10 of 19M. Bruce King and Kate Bouchard
Reformers, policymakers, and researchers have given considerable attention to organizational capacity in schools, especially in those schools that perpetuate or exacerbate…
Abstract
Purpose
Reformers, policymakers, and researchers have given considerable attention to organizational capacity in schools, especially in those schools that perpetuate or exacerbate achievement gaps among diverse student groups and reproduce social inequalities. There is an emerging consensus about key dimensions of school capacity and how they can help promote both equity and excellence in student learning. However, it is still not very clear how capacity building itself can be enhanced. This paper aims to address these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper addresses this critical disjuncture in the school reform literature through two main purposes: summarizing the key dimensions of school organizational capacity, and synthesizing the recent conceptual and empirical work on the important mechanisms of policies and programs to influence and support a school's organizational development. The authors' recent research and practice related to one such intervention, leadership coaching for school improvement, are critically discussed. The paper explores a hybrid approach to building capacity in schools where elements of both the bureaucracy and the learning community are present.
Findings
Different schools clearly need different kinds of support for teacher development and building their capacity. Policies need to be flexible enough to fit particular school contexts, and to allow for organizations to change in ways that support teacher development for improved practices that impact student learning. The work in the middle involves some sort of fluid hybrid of administrative control (instructional improvement must be the focus) and active, broad participation (in a learning community that advances the changes in instructional practices).
Originality/value
This paper addresses the lack of clear knowledge on how capacity building itself can be enhanced, by summarizing the key dimensions of school organizational capacity, and synthesizing the recent conceptual and empirical work on the important mechanisms of policies and programs to influence and support a school's organizational development. The paper provides an overview of the dimensions of school organizational capacity, discusses barriers to building capacity in schools, and argues for hybrid models that combine elements of both learning communities and bureaucracies.
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Dafna Merom and Robert Korycinski
The mid-1990s marked a paradigm shift in the way physical activity is promoted, and walking is now considered the most suitable type of physical activity for widespread promotion…
Abstract
The mid-1990s marked a paradigm shift in the way physical activity is promoted, and walking is now considered the most suitable type of physical activity for widespread promotion. Accurate measurement underpins public health practice, hence the aims of this chapter are to: (1) provide a typology for the measurement of walking; (2) review methods to assess walking; (3) present challenges in defining walking measures; (4) identify issues in selecting instruments for the evaluation of walking and (5) discuss current efforts to overcome measurement challenges and methodological limitations. The taxonomy of walking indicates that secondary purpose walking is a more complex set of behaviours than primary purpose walks. It has many purposes and no specific domain or intensity, may lack regularity, and therefore poses greater measurement challenges. Objective measurement methods, such as accelerometers, pedometers, smartphones and other electronic devices, have shown good approximation for walking energy expenditure, but are indirect methods of walking assessment. Global Positioning System technology, the ‘Smartmat’ and radio-frequency identification tags are potential objective methods that can distinguish walkers, but also require complex analysis, are costly, and still need their measurement properties corroborated. Subjective direct methods, such as questionnaires, diaries and direct observation, provide the richest information on walking, especially short-term diaries, such as trip records and time use records, and are particularly useful for assessing secondary purpose walking. A unifying measure for health research, surveillance and health promotion would strongly advance the understanding of the impact of walking on health.
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Snejina Michailova and Kate Hutchings
This paper aims to provide a critical perspective of how the theme of women, and more broadly gender, have been treated in extant international business (IB) literature. It also…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a critical perspective of how the theme of women, and more broadly gender, have been treated in extant international business (IB) literature. It also suggests meaningful and promising avenues in this research space.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is not intended to provide a comprehensive literature review; rather, it offers a critical and reflective view on the development of the IB stream of literature in which discussion of women has been largely marginalised.
Findings
While women and gender have been topics of considerable discussion across a range of disciplines in the social sciences, they have received limited examination in the IB literature despite this discipline being most suitable for such, given its socio-cultural analyses across international borders and organisations.
Research limitations/implications
Several themes are suggested as fertile future research avenues. These themes identify gaps in existing knowledge but, more importantly, also problematize prevailing views that IB scholars tend to hold about women and gender. The future research themes suggest that the very context of IB signifies the need for systematic gender analysis which might advance current understanding of women specifically and gender, more broadly, in the IB field.
Originality/value
This paper makes a salient and timely contribution to the IB field in providing an original, erstwhile unexamined critique of the marginal reflection on women and gender within extant IB research.
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The 2006 General Assembly adoption of the United Nations (UN) Global Counter-terrorism strategy marked the first time all member states ratified a collective counter-terrorism…
Abstract
The 2006 General Assembly adoption of the United Nations (UN) Global Counter-terrorism strategy marked the first time all member states ratified a collective counter-terrorism (CT) agenda. Building on the 2000 Millennium Development Goals, the strategy incorporated Amartya Sen's capability-based approach to development. This promised human-oriented and holistic methods for countering terrorism and violent extremism, in contrast to the post-2001 ‘hard security’ context of the United States–led Global War on Terror (GWOT). Although the first pillar of the strategy emphasised human rights and social progress over isolated economic growth, poverty, violence and retrogression in conflict zones since 2006 have led to the deaths of millions. Combined with resource scarcity and environmental devastation, insurgency-related conflicts have resulted in 70 million people displaced worldwide in 2019, while the politically violent phenomena of extreme right-wing nationalism and neo-jihadism remain prevalent. Reflecting on the social and economic outcomes of the GWOT, this chapter evaluates development-related discourses and activity in UN-led initiatives to counter and prevent violent extremism and terrorism. In doing so, it accounts for the impacts of UN CT measures on contemporary patterns ‘in phenomena described in policy arenas as ‘violent extremism’ and ‘terrorism’, including ‘neo-jihadism’ and right-wing extremism, in Global North and Global South contexts.
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Monica Adya and Kate M. Kaiser
To develop a testable model for girls' career choices in technology fields based on past research and hypotheses about the future of the information technology (IT) workforce.
Abstract
Purpose
To develop a testable model for girls' career choices in technology fields based on past research and hypotheses about the future of the information technology (IT) workforce.
Design/methodology/approach
Review and assimilation of literature from education, psychology, sociology, computer science, IT, and business in a model that identifies factors that can potentially influence a girl's choice towards or against IT careers. The factors are categorized into social factors (family, peers, and media), structural factors (computer use, teacher/counselor influence, same sex versus coeducational schools), and individual differences. The impact of culture on these various factors is also explored.
Findings
The model indicates that parents, particularly fathers, are the key influencers of girls' choice of IT careers. Teachers and counselors provide little or no career direction. Hypotheses propose that early access to computers may reduce intimidation with technology and that same‐sex education may serve to reduce career bias against IT.
Research limitations/implications
While the model is multidisciplinary, much of research from which it draws is five to eight years old. Patterns of career choices, availability of technology, increased independence of women and girls, offshore/nearshore outsourcings of IT jobs are just some of the factors that may be insufficiently addressed in this study.
Practical implications
A “Recommendations” section provides some practical steps to increase the involvement of girls in IT‐related careers and activities at an early age. The article identifies cultural research as a limitation and ways to address this.
Originality/value
The paper is an assimilation of literature from diverse fields and provides a testable model for research on gender and IT.
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Abstract
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The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical reflection on congressional testimony in the #MeToo era from the standpoint of a millennial graduate student.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical reflection on congressional testimony in the #MeToo era from the standpoint of a millennial graduate student.
Design/methodology/approach
This essay is based on observational data from a roundtable discussion between Anita Hill and Kimberlé Crenshaw moderated by Dr Dorothy Roberts and connects to themes in research on sex-based harassment.
Findings
The findings of this essay suggest there is still much work to be done in operationalizing intersectionally in the #Metoo era.
Originality/value
The thoughts and opinions expressed in this essay are the author’s own.
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