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1 – 10 of 19Rajinder Koul, Melinda Corwin, Ravi Nigam and Susanne Oetzel
Individuals with severe speech and language impairment as a result of chronic severe Broca's aphasia may rely on non‐speech communication aids to augment or replace speech. These…
Abstract
Individuals with severe speech and language impairment as a result of chronic severe Broca's aphasia may rely on non‐speech communication aids to augment or replace speech. These aids include speech‐generating devices and graphic symbol software programs that produce synthetic speech upon activation. Previous research has indicated that individuals with chronic severe Broca's aphasia are able to identify, manipulate, and combine graphic symbols to produce simple phrases and sentences. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the ability of three individuals with chronic severe Broca's aphasia to produce graphic symbol sentences of varying levels of complexity using a speech generating device. A single‐subject multiple‐baseline design across behaviours replicated across three participants was used to assess the effect of AAC intervention on the production of sentences using graphic symbols. Findings indicated that individuals with chronic severe Broca's aphasia were able to combine graphic symbols to produce sentences of varying levels of complexity. The results of this study suggest that technologically‐based AAC intervention approaches can be effective in facilitating communication for individuals with chronic severe Broca's aphasia. The overall findings are discussed in terms of clinical and public policy implications.
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Daniel M. Gordon and Corwin A. Robertson
The purpose of this paper is to describe the role of the vaccine manufacturer in the global vaccine enterprise.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the role of the vaccine manufacturer in the global vaccine enterprise.
Design/methodology/approach
Narrative review.
Findings
Pharmaceutical companies involved in the vaccine enterprise play critical and often unrecognized roles in the global health management arena. In addition to the obvious role of vaccine production and distribution, companies are often involved in the identification of infectious agents for which vaccines may be of benefit, basic and applied research, process development, pre-clinical and clinical evaluations of vaccine candidates, as well as continuous post-licensure safety monitoring efforts. Vaccine manufacturers interact with health and regulatory agencies, academia and agencies interested in supporting cost-effective means of vaccine distribution to areas most in need of life-saving vaccines.
Originality/value
This review provides the reader with an understanding of the many roles of the manufacturer in the global vaccine enterprise.
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In the world of public school education everything depends on good leadership. Sadly, many of our schools administrators can't differentiate the difference between leading and…
Abstract
In the world of public school education everything depends on good leadership. Sadly, many of our schools administrators can't differentiate the difference between leading and managing; far too many of them don't know the first thing about fundamental leadership principles. In short, they don't understand the fundamentals of Mission Oriented Leadership, the need for top-down leadership, or the critical differences between leadership and management. A cursory review of the selection process for school administrators, and the graduate level curriculums for those who seek a degree in school administration, clearly supports the contention that policymakers and educators are under the misconception that anyone can be taught or trained to be an effective school leader. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Christa Boske and Azadeh F. Osanloo
This book provides a deeper understanding of what it means to promote social justice and equity work in schools and communities around the world. Throughout this book, narratives…
Abstract
This book provides a deeper understanding of what it means to promote social justice and equity work in schools and communities around the world. Throughout this book, narratives describe how authors continue to reshape the agenda for educational reform. They remind us of the significance meaningful relationships play in promoting and sustaining reform efforts that address the injustices vulnerable populations face in school communities. Their voices represent the need for engaging with obstacles and barriers and a resistant world through a web of relationships, an intersubjective reality (see Ayers, 1996). As authors engaged in thinking about addressing injustices, they describe how their thoughts transformed into actions moving beyond, breaking through institutional structures, attempting to rebuild and make sense of their own situations (see Dewey, 1938).
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Melinda J. Moye, Alan B. Henkin and Robert J. Egley
To investigate relationships between teacher empowerment and interpersonal level trust in the principal.
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate relationships between teacher empowerment and interpersonal level trust in the principal.
Design/methodology/approach
Trust is a fundamental element in well‐functioning organizations. Studies of empowerment, a motivational construct, have suggested that empowering employees is a key factor in managerial and organizational effectiveness. An instrument was constructed to measure perceived teacher empowerment and level of interpersonal trust in the principal. Established measures of psychological empowerment and affect‐and cognition‐based trust were adapted for use in the study. Elementary school teachers in an urban school district in the USA completed the survey instrument.
Findings
Teachers who perceived that they were empowered in their work environments had higher levels of interpersonal trust in their principals. Teachers who found their work personally meaningful, and who reported significant autonomy and substantial influence in their work environments had higher levels of interpersonal trust in principals.
Research limitations/implications
This investigation was delimited by the study sample. Research on the empowerment‐trust relationships should be extended to include middle and high schools, and schools in different regions with a broader range of demographics.
Practical implications
Principals should consider suggested strategies that can strengthen teachers’ perceptions of empowerment, reinforce trustworthy behaviors, and support beliefs in the honesty, integrity, and reliability of supervisors.
Originality/value
The study compliments the limited base of data‐driven research in education and the non‐profit sector that focuses on significant intervening variables associated with trust in organizations.
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Gamification is the application of game features, mainly video game elements, into non-game context for the purpose of promoting motivation and engagement in learning. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Gamification is the application of game features, mainly video game elements, into non-game context for the purpose of promoting motivation and engagement in learning. The application of gamification in a pedagogical context provides some remedy for many students who find themselves alienated by traditional methods of instruction. The use of gamification could provide a partial solution to the decline in learners’ motivation and engagement the schooling system is facing today. Specifically, the college environment could benefit a lot from gamifying not only their graduate recruitment strategies, but also the college course content and curricula. This critical analysis of literature on gamification is intended to be part of a sequence on the effect of gamification on motivation and engagement. A proposed methodology in the study of gamification effect on motivation and engagement in addition to an empirical study on three college courses are being finalized to complete this trilogy. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Themes covered in the literature review include: conceptualizing gamification, advantages of gamification over game-based learning, theoretical connections to gamification, motivation and engagement, connecting gamification to motivation and engagement, emotions and fun in gamification, player types and gamification features, gamification in action, and implementation guidelines.
Findings
The literature on the effect of gamification on motivation and gamification is still limited on multiple levels. There is a gap between theory and practice in the study of gamification. There is limited literature on the implementation guidelines of the gamified designs.
Practical implications
This critical analysis of literature is followed by connecting it to future research by the same author as part of a sequence on the effect of gamification on motivation and engagement. The second project, will be proposing a methodology for any successful design to provide a holistic understanding of the topic of gamification. Finally, an empirical study on the effect of gamification on students’ motivation and engagement in three college courses will be submitted to complete the trilogy.
Originality/value
This paper is a literature review, so there is a strong connection to literature on this topic. However, the synthesis of the themes and ideas are original. The literature review is extensive and covers the different aspects of the topic of gamification and its relationship to motivation and engagement.
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Saul A. Rubinstein and John E. McCarthy
Over the past decade the policy debate over improving U.S. public education has focused on market solutions (charter schools, privatization, and vouchers) and teacher evaluation…
Abstract
Over the past decade the policy debate over improving U.S. public education has focused on market solutions (charter schools, privatization, and vouchers) and teacher evaluation through high stakes standardized testing of students. In this debate, teachers and their unions are often characterized as the problem. Our research offers an alternate path in the debate, a perspective that looks at schools as systems – the way schools are organized and the way decisions are made. We focus on examples of collaboration through the creation of long-term labor-management partnerships among teachers’ unions and school administrators that improve and restructure public schools from the inside to enhance planning, decision-making, problem solving, and the ways teachers interact and schools are organized. We analyzed how these efforts were created and sustained in six public school districts over the past two decades, and what they can teach us about the impact of significant involvement of faculty and their local union leadership, working closely with district administration. We argue that collaboration between teachers, their unions, and administrators is both possible and necessary for any meaningful and lasting public school reform.
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Follett's relational process theory illuminates key aspects of interdependence among organizations in the field of education that are essential to fostering capacities for…
Abstract
Purpose
Follett's relational process theory illuminates key aspects of interdependence among organizations in the field of education that are essential to fostering capacities for interorganizational resilience. The article argues for the necessity of developing mutualism in systems of education as essential preparation for times of instability and crisis, as demonstrated through recent experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
This article provides an introduction to the relational process theory of Mary Parker Follett, a foundational theorist of organizing and administration. This theoretical review uses worked examples drawn from a collaborative, continuous improvement partnership focused on educational leadership preparation and development.
Findings
The author identifies four aspects of Follett's theory that connect most directly to collaborative, continuous improvement partnerships. These include mutualism as circular response, coactive power, embrace of difference through constructive conflict and integrating experience through learning. The article discusses how these offer an integrated framework of foundational concepts for nurturing and sustaining educational systems capable of adaptive change in the face of complex challenges.
Originality/value
Follett's relational process theory offers a perspective on partnering as a dynamic and evolving constellation of interactions and activity. The implications of Follett's core ideas for education resonate beyond improvement partnerships and offer guidance at all levels of educational systems seeking to orient towards an evolutionary logic.
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